Under My Skin
by TwilightNocturne74
Summary: [Discontinued] Mina Gray is stuck in the middle of a wizarding world war... Her family has chosen their side, and so has Snape... Now it's her turn to choose a side, but can a certain werewolf sway her decision? RLOC
1. Introduction

**Under My Skin**

**A/N: This is my first fic. The introduction is a bit odd, but it needed to be written, or else nobody would know what was going on. It gets better though, I promise. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: HP belongs to JKR, not me.

* * *

**

**Chapter 1: Introduction **

Mina Gray had her long, chestnut brown hair tied up in a loose bun today. Strands of hair fell in front of her eyes. Her green and silver tie was loosened at the neck. She was studying all afternoon in the Slytherin common room.

She felt a cold hand clasp over her face.

"Guess who?" came a cold, familiar voice.

"Get off of me, Sev. I'm in no mood," Mina said, quite harshly.

Severus Snape sat down next to her. "Sorry to bother," he said.

"No, that's okay. I'm just studying for potions," she said, flashing one of her fake smiles.

"Well, I could help you," he said, smiling back with a somewhat sinister grin. It disgusted Mina when he smiled that way.

"Actually, I think I've put in enough hours already," she said, slamming her book shut. She stood up to leave.

"Where are you going?" He asked eagerly.

"Girls dorms."

It was the only place she could go where he wouldn't follow her. Severus Snape was obsessed with Mina. He wasn't obsessed to the point of insanity, but he knew that she was the only girl in the whole goddamn school who understood him. To him, she was the most beautiful Slytherin girl he knew. He loved her brown hair that glinted a golden-auburn color in the sun. He loved her short, sloping nose and her full, ruby lips. One thing that bothered him was her gray, lifeless eyes that matched those of her cousin, Sirius Black.

Sirius Black's father and Mina Gray's mother were brother and sister, and they were both crazy; they served Voldemort. Sirius wasn't sure about what side Mina was on, but he didn't know, or care, really, about his cousins. Sirius was 15 years old, young, hot, and in Gryffindor. Guys envied him; girls wanted him. He could have any girl except one: Lily Evans.

Lily was a muggleborn witch who belonged to James Potter. Well, James wished she belonged to him. He was more obsessed with her than Snape was with Mina, which was convenient for Lily and Mina since they were such close friends and knew how each other felt most of the time. James and Sirius were best friends, and two other 5th year Gryffindors always followed them around. Mina knew them all as Sirius, Potter, and those other two guys.

Mina didn't actually go up to the dorms. She instead stood on the steps and waited until Snape decided he was bored and left. Once he was gone, she crept back into the common room.

Privacy, finally.

"Hey Mina!" Mina jumped.

"Oh, it's you, Regulus," she said, relieved. One of her cousins, Sirius' brother, in fact, and one of her few Slytherin friends, Regulus Black was one of the nicer Slytherins. Well, nice to anybody but Gryffindors.

"Regulus, I'm studying. Leave me alone," she said.

"Aw, fine. You're no fun," he sobbed, and left.

Regulus was a 3rd year, and a pest sometimes. Mina didn't feel like hanging out with him now.

And now, thought Mina, peace and quiet. But just then, a pack of hysterical, giggling first year girls burst into the common room.

Mina slammed her book shut. "That's it!" she yelled. She put her books away, heading out of the room. She decided to go find Lily.

Mina had to give a 2nd year detention for hexing someone in the halls. It was the first time in a month since she performed her prefect duties. She wasn't as good a prefect as Lily was.

Lily beat Mina at looks, too. And at school grades. And fashion. But Mina was fabulous at quidditch, and Lily knew she couldn't compete with that. Mina was a keeper, and the best Slytherin keeper in a long time. The captain let her on the team right away.

"Hi Mina." Mina twirled around to see who was calling her name. It was Phoebe Chang, a Ravenclaw 5th year, and a good friend of Mina's.

"Where are you going?" Phoebe asked eagerly.

"I was just looking for Lily. Do you know where she is?" Mina asked.

Phoebe beamed at Mina. "You're in luck. I just saw her studying in the library."

The library! Why hadn't Mina thought of that? Then Snape and Regulus wouldn't have bothered her.

Phoebe and Mina walked down to the library together, but when they got there, they found it to be deserted.

"Oh well. Hey, wanna play chess?" Phoebe asked.

"No thanks," Mina said, "I think I'll go back to my dorm." She left.


	2. A fight with the Marauders

**Chapter 2: A fight with the Marauders**

"There you are, Mina! I've been looking all over for you!" Lily said, catching up with Mina in the hall.

"Hey." Mina smiled. She only ever smiled for real when Lily was around.

"I don't know about you, but if I study anymore, my brain will explode, so let's take a walk outside," Lily suggested.

"You always seem to be reading my mind, Lil,"

Lily shrugged. "Whatever. Let's just go." She led the way outside to the Hogwarts Lake. They always sat there and talked.

Mina sat on a rock by the water's edge. She let her fingers gently touch the surface of the water. It was relaxing.

Lily took off her shoes and put her feet in the water. Her hair was being blown violently by the wind.

"Hey, Lil, what do you see yourself doing after you graduate?" Mina asked.

Lily turned and looked at Mina.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, we've always decided that we would get married young, live next door to each other, do everything together... you know. But, I mean, we planned it all out when we were 12 years old. Now, things are... _different_," said Mina.

"How so?"

"Look at us. We're obviously not getting married right away. We're both single. My family expects so much from me, but your family will let you do anything you want to do. We both have different paths," said Mina.

"Mina, we have two years before we graduate. I wouldn't worry about boys. And my family is different from yours, but since when do you do what your parents tell you?" Lily asked.

"Since the day I was born. That's my problem. My life is horrible! Lily, you're going to be so successful in life, you know that?"

"My life isn't any better than yours! I'm not perfect..." she sighed.

Lily looked up and, to her dismay, noticed Sirius, James, and Peter coming their way.

"Oh, look. It's the 3 musketeers," Mina said.

"Actually, we'd like to be called 'the Marauders' from now on," Sirius said proudly.

"Doesn't' the word 'marauder' mean someone who steals, curses and is a troublemaker? Somebody who's looking for detention? And what with Mina and I being prefects and all..." Lily said.

"Ah, but a friend of ours is also a prefect, so you can't give us detentions," James said.

"I don't see him," Mina said, looking around.

"He's busy, for your information," said Peter.

"Mina, let's go. It's getting dark, and there's no use fighting with them," Lily said.

It was indeed dusk, Mina's favorite time of day. Everything glowed a deep, midnight blue. It would all last for no more than a few minutes. Soon the moon would be out. It was a full moon tonight, and Mina had been waiting for it for a whole month. Everything to do with the sky and the moon and stars intrigued Mina.

"Don't be in such a rush to go, Evans," James said.

"Yeah, Lily. The boys are just screaming for detentions tonight. So let's give it to them," said Mina. Lily turned around.

"Fine," she said, smiling.

"Wait a minute. You're not giving me a detention without putting up a fight," said Sirius.

"That's ridiculous-" Lily began.

"No, Lily. If Sirius wants a fight, we'll give it to him and his little followers," Mina said.

"Excuse me, but I am _not_ a follower!" James argued.

"Shut up," Mina said. She pointed her wand at James, who found he now was unable to open his mouth.

Sirius had his wand out already.

"_Expeliarmus_!" he shouted. Mina's wand flew into his hands.

"Hey!" Mina shouted.

Lily muttered a charm at Sirius. Mina, Lily, Peter, and James all began laughing hysterically at him. His hair had turned hot pink.

"Bravo," came the voice of Snape. He walked over towards the girls.

"Uh...thanks," said Lily.

Sirius was infuriated. He pointed his wand at Snape.

Now the Marauders were laughing. Snape's pants had fallen down, revealing green boxers with little golden snitches flying around on them. He quickly pulled his pants up, cursing Sirius under his breath. He looked up and caught Mina staring at him with her eyebrow raised. She laughed.

"_Expeliarmus_!" Snape shouted once his pants were on. Mina's wand flew out of Sirius' hands and into his own. He tossed Mina her wand.

"_Ridio_!" Mina said, her wand pointed at Sirius.

Suddenly Sirius went into huge laughing fits. He felt like somebody was tickling him.

Peter realized he had to help his friends at this point. He cured Sirius and James, and turned Sirius's hair back to its original, dark colour.

James pointed his wand at Mina. "_Petrificus Totalus_!"

The curse did not hit Mina. It hit Lily, instead.

Lily's entire body was paralyzed. She stood there, unable to move.

"Whoops. That'll only last a few minutes. Don't worry," James said. He came over and put his arm around Lily. "I like you better when you're not moving," he said to her.

"That's enough!" Mina grabbed James off of Lily and pushed him into Sirius.

"All of you! Just get out of here!" she said.

Sirius muttered something like _you started it,_ and walked away, James and Peter following.

Snape took the curse off of Lily.

"There. I did you a favor, _mudblood_, so you owe me," he said. Mina smacked him in the back of his head.

"Don't use that word!" she said. He smirked and walked away.

"He thinks he did you a favor. He's a loser," Mina said.

"So is James," Lily agreed.

The two of them walked back to the castle.

"What time is it?" Mina asked once they were inside. It was freezing and she was hugging herself and shaking.

"6:45," Lily said, looking at her watch.

"We're missing dinner! I'm starved!" said Mina. They headed to the Great Hall and parted as Lily made her way to the Gryffindor table; Mina to the Slytherin table.

Snape was sitting next to the only available seat at the table. Mina sighed and reluctantly sat next to him.

"Oh good. I saved a seat for you," he told her.

"I see," said Mina, frowning.

"You're mad at me, aren't you?" Snape asked.

"No," Mina lied.

"Well, those losers shoudn't have messed with you," Snape said, referring to the Marauders.

"No, they shouldn't have. I guess I'm lucky you stepped in to help," Mina lied again, trying to boost Snape's self-esteem.

Snape smiled proudly. "So what are you doing this weekend?" he asked.

"Um... Isn't there a Hogsmeade trip this weekend?" Mina said, taking a bite of her macaroni.

"That's why I asked," said Snape.

"Oh. Well, I suppose I haven't made any plans yet, and I'm guessing you want to go with me, right?" Mina asked.

"I thought you might want to hang out," Snape replied.

"Well, what did you have in mind?" Mina asked while swishing the noodles on her plate around with her fork.

"I don't know. We could go to the 3 broomsticks," he suggested.

"Everybody goes there, Snape. Howabout somewhere more... quiet? Just you and me?" Mina asked. Was she leading him on? She certainly didn't want Snape to take this the wrong way.

Snape's smile widened. "That'd be lovely," he said, "we can meet at the Hogstail at noon."

The Hogstail was a small little restaurant in the back of Hogsmeade that not too many students knew about. Mina would go there with Lily sometimes to buy gelato.

Mina forced a smile at Snape. He was rude to Lily, so why was she being nice to him?

The rest of their dinner was spent in silence. Mina found she didn't have much of an appetite. She didn't want anyone to bother her, so she left for the dorms. Once she was alone in her room, she picked up her potions textbook and began to study once again.


	3. Enter the Werewolf

**Chapter 3: Enter the Werewolf**

Mina woke up that morning at 6. She found she could not get back to sleep, so she quietly crept down to the common room, careful not to disturb her roommates.

Mina sat down on a comfy green chair. As always, there was a fire in the fireplace. Mina had her potions book with her, so she opened it; but as she began to read, the words started to blur together. Mina looked at her watch. She had less than two hours before classes started, so why was she stressing? Because although her father owned a potions factory, and although she was great at making potions, Mina sucked at memorizing who invented what potion and when.

Mina strode back to her dormitory to put away her book. Her eyes then fell to a nearby window. It was facing the Forbidden Forest, which, despite its name, was beautiful; especially at this time of the year, when all the leaves were turning colors and gently floating to the ground.

At that moment, Mina saw a figure running out of the forest and towards the castle. He- or she- seemed to be limping as well. Mina ran all the way downstairs to see who it was.

A boy Mina's age burst through the front doors. His clothes were torn and he was bruised and bleeding all over.

"Oh my god!" Mina ran to him as he fell. He looked up at her.

"I'm fine; don't worry about me," he said.

"You're hurt. You need to go to the hospital wing!" wing said. She helped the boy to his feet and led him all the way to Madam Pomfrey's. He didn't' say a word.

"Back again, Remus?" Madam Pomfrey asked the boy.

"Ray-mus?" I know you. You're the Gryffindor prefect. Aren't you friends with my cousin?" Mina asked. Remus nodded slowly. Madam Pomfrey handed him a potion.

"Rub this over your wounds and they'll heal instantly," she said. He took the potion from her.

"You may go," she said. Remus got up and limped out of the room.

"Are you sure he's all right?" asked Mina.

"There are a lot of things you do not know about that boy, Ms. Gray. He'll be just fine," Madam Pomfrey assured her.

Mina left the room and headed for Gryffindor tower to find Remus. She caught up with him in the hallway.

"Hey," she said. He didn't answer her, but he stopped walking.

"Why are you so beat up? Did somebody try to hurt you?" she asked. He turned to look at her. There were tears forming in his eyes.

"If I were you, I wouldn't worry about me," he said. A cut above his right eye was bleeding. Mina put her finger on his brow and wiped away the blood.

"I don't know you that well, but if you ever need someone to talk to, let me know." She walked away.

At breakfast, Remus Lupin could not keep his thoughts off the Slytherin prefect who helped him that morning. She was too kind, and didn't know what she was doing, but he thought about taking her offer to talk to her.

"Something wrong, Moony? You seem distracted today," said James.

"I'm fine, really. Rough night, you know? So... has Peter figured out how to transform into an animal yet?" Lupin asked.

"He's getting there. I wonder what animal he'll become?" James said.

"Probably a worm," Sirius joked.

Remus couldn't help from letting his eyes wander over to the Slytherin table. He couldn't spot Mina, though. His eyes scanned across the entire room until he caught sight of her at the Ravenclaw table. Lily was there too and they seemed to be chatting with an Asian girl who must've been a Ravenclaw.

"What are a Gryffindor and a Slytherin doing here?" asked a Ravenclaw 4th year. She had curly red hair, big blue eyes shielded by wide-rimmed glasses, and freckles all over her nose and pink cheeks.

"They're my guests for today, Lana," said Phoebe.

"Anyway, as I was saying-" Mina began.

"Go back to your own tables," Lana cut her off.

"No need to be prejudice," Lily argued.

"All I'm saying is there are different houses for a reason," Lana continued.

"Forget this. I'm out of here. I knew this was a bad idea from the start," Mina said. She left for the Slytherin table, but on her way somebody tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around to see who it was.

"Hi."

"Oh. Hi, Remus," Mina was relieved to see it was not Snape.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to... _talk_... over a cup of butterbeer this weekend," he said.

"Uh... sure. That'd be fine," said Mina.

"Good. See you then," he turned around and went back to his table.

"Mina, what was that all about? What did Remus say?" Lily asked.

"Butterbeer. He wants to go get a bottle of butterbeer with me at Hogsmeade this weekend," Mina replied.

"Why?" asked Lily.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. He said we could talk.... This morning... I saw him come in the castle, bleeding and hurt, so I asked if he wanted to talk about it," Mina explained.

"This morning? He doesn't look hurt," said Lily.

"He went to the hospital wing," Mina said.

Lily looked at Remus, who was sitting with Sirius, James, and Peter again, laughing and talking.

"It's so odd. He seems like such a normal person," she said.


	4. Butterbeer

**Chapter 4**

* * *

The week flew by fast. Mina almost forgot to meet with Remus on Saturday. She waited in the hallway of Gryffindor Tower for somebody to exit the common room. Finally the portrait hole swung open and Lily steeped out.

"Lily, thank god it's you," Mina said.

"Hey. Wanna come in?" Lily asked.

"You know I can't," said Mina.

"Oh, by the way, Mina, Remus told me he'd meet you at the 3 Broomsticks. If you ask me, I'd say this was a date," Lily said.

"I'm not asking you and this is not a date. I'm just making sure everything is all right with Remus," Mina said.

"Whatever you say."

"Are you ready to go, Lily?" Mina asked in a slightly irritated tone. Lily nodded and they both left the castle, headed for Hogsmeade.

It was 11 AM and Mina hadn't had much time that morning to get ready. She wore an orange and red shirt representing her favorite quidditch team, the Flaming Hawks, and a pair of blue, bell-bottom jeans. Her hair was up in a ponytail. Lily, on the other hand, had plenty of time to get ready that morning, and she wore a cute pink blouse and matching skirt. She even had time to curl her hair.

When they got to Hogsmeade, they ran into Phoebe.

"Hey guys. Lily, you look exceptionally nice today," said Phoebe.

"Yeah, I just thought I would curl my hair for a change," Lily replied.

"What's the occasion?" Phoebe had an eyebrow raised.

"I'm trying to get Frank Longbottom to notice me. Surely he'd notice that I did something with my hair, right?" Lily asked.

"I guess so," or "Yeah sure, Lily," could be heard muttered by both Mina and Phoebe.

"Let's go to the 3 broomsticks. Maybe he's there," said Lily excitedly.

When they entered the 3 broomsticks, Lily spotted Frank right away and strolled over towards him.

"Hi Frank," Lily said, beaming.

"Oh, hi Lily. It's nice to see you," he said, returning her smile.

"Thanks. You too," Lily said.

Somebody called Frank's name and he turned to go talk to that person, leaving a blushing Lily behind.

"Uh...how'd it go?" Mina asked.

Lily sobbed. "He didn't notice my hair!"

"Aw, don't worry, Lily!" Phoebe said cheerily.

"Hey, Evans!" James had spotted Lily and walked towards her. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Evans, I like your hair like that. It's sexy," he said, twirling a finger in her hair.

"Why thank you, James. Can you please stop touching my hair?" Lily asked.

"Hey, Potter! Why don't you go do something with your hair! It's a mess!" Mina teased.

"Sod off, Gray!" James spat at her and stalked off.

"What's his problem?" Mina wondered.

"Mina." Mina felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around.

"Remus." He motioned for her to sit down at an empty table with him. (A/N: if she sits down at the table, how can the table be empty? Haha...)

She waved bye to Phoebe and Lily, and then took a seat.

"How are you?" she asked.

"Better," he said. His face seemed so expressionless, and yet so... tired. She saw weariness each time she looked into his deep black eyes.

"That's good-" Mina stopped talking, for Remus seemed upset. He was looking down at the table. He then looked up at her.

"I don't want you to take pity on me, Mina," he said.

"What?" Mina seemed confused.

"That's why you wanted to talk to me, wasn't it?" he asked.

"Not at all! I was just-"

"Worried?" he finished her sentence.

"Yes, worried."

"Don't be. Look, Mina, what you saw the other morning... I want you to forget it," he said.

"Why?" If there's something that you want to let me know, Remus-"

"No." Mina sighed.

"I guess I just can't beat it. Madam Pomfrey told me there were things I didn't know about you," she said.

"And I prefer if nobody knew those things. Nobody except Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey, and-" he stopped.

"And who?" asked Mina. Remus didn't answer her.

"Can I get you guys anything?" One of the waitresses came their table.

"Yes; two butterbeers, please," Remus said, not taking his eyes off Mina.

The waitress walked off to prepare their order, and he looked away. Mina felt awkward. She looked at Remus and he met her gaze.

In his eyes she saw years of fear, worry, and pain. He was only 15, but she knew somehow he must have had a lot to endure in his life. She felt his pain; she shed his tears. Herslife wasn't so great, either. When she was little, Mina's mother used to drink, and she would beat her only daughter. Mina would spend the long, lonely nights crying in her room. Her father would come in to comfort her, hugging her and singing an Irish lullaby to make her fall asleep. (A/N: Mina is part Irish, as you can see) Her mother gave up alcohol when Mina was 9. Both of her parents began serving Voldemort soon after that, and she and her father began drifting apart.

Remus and Mina seemed to be staring into each other's eyes for ages. Their gaze was broken at the sound of the waitress's voice.

"Two butterbeers," she said, handing each of them their drinks and walking away.

Mina took a large swig of her butterbeer and almost choked. She wiped her mouth.

"Your eyes are really pretty," Remus said to her. Mina felt herself blush. Was he hitting on her?

"Thanks," she replied simply.

"You must be the prettiest girl in Hogwarts," he said.

"I dunno... people always say it comes close between Lily and me," Mina said, still blushing.

"Not at all. You and Miss Evans are both beautiful in your own separate ways. But I like you because you're beautiful on the inside, too," he said. Mina was beet red now.

"Um... w-well, a lot of girls are like that," she stuttered.

"Not Slytherins," said Remus, "You are a beautiful Slytherin."

Remus Lupin was quite the charming one. Mina decided that she liked him. He really seemed interested in her. He was someone she could talk to, and he was nothing at all like Snape.

"Snape!" Mina cried out.

Remus looked confused. Mina checked her watch. Noon.

"Oh god, I forgot about Snape! I have to meet him… I'm really sorry, Remus, I have to go!" Mina stood up and reached into her pocket for some money.

"That's okay, Mina, I'll pay for the butterbeer," he said.

She thanked him and headed off to the Hogstail.

* * *

**A/N: this chapter was fun to write.However, somehow, this is starting to sound like a big sob story in Mina's case. Because her mom's an idiot. **

**Also, just to let you guys know, Frank Longbottom is really of no importance to this fanfic. Just some infatuation of Lily's until I can build up her and James' relationship. **

**To my reviewers:**

**Crazayladay- I'm glad you like my story. I'll keep updating, don't worry.**

**PaulC- Lily is only perfect from Mina's point of view, really. I will try to read your story when I can. It sounds interesting.**

**-Thanks all of you! I hope this story turns out to be a success. So far, it's starting to go somewhere. Well, ttfn! **


	5. A Declaration of Love

**Disclaimer: I own nothing here but the plot and the main character, Mina. The rest belongs to none other than JK Rowling.**

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Mina rushed into the Hogstail. She was flushed and out of breath. Snape was sitting down at a table in the front. His arms were crossed and he was tapping his foot.

"You're late, you know that?"

"Somebody's impatient," Mina replied while taking a seat next to him. He smirked.

"Here," Snape handed Mina a single red rose. Mina remembered Snape saying red was his favourite colour. A red rose signified love, and yet the colour red meant so much more. Being red in the face meant embarrassment, seeing red meant anger, and, of course, red was the colour of blood. It described Snape's personality perfectly. He was an embarrassed, angry, bloodthirsty person. And he was in love.

"Wow... uh, thanks," Mina said, searching for the right words. She took the rose.

"Mina, what exactly is our relationship?" he asked, taking her hands in his own. Mina's eyes widened. What was he doing?

"What do you mean, Sev? We're just friends, of course," she said. Snape sighed.

"Why did you come here today? Do you feel anything for me? Mina, do you know that I love you?" he asked. Mina's eyes grew even wider, until they were practically bulging out of their sockets. She pulled her hands away and set them on her lap.

"Sev, I think love is the wrong word here," she said.

"You're right. I'm crazy for you. I didn't think I could admit it, but it's really been driving me daft, lately."

Mina hesitated to speak. What could she say? She couldn't tell him that he disgusted her.

"Sev, I like you as a friend and nothing more. I understand you have feelings for me, but let me tell you, it's not love you're feeling," she said. Snape grinned mischievously.

"You don't get it, you can't understand the way I feel about you. Maybe you never will. But that won't stop me from trying," he said.

"Whatever." Mina didn't really feel like arguing at the moment. She would let Snape do and think whatever he pleased; it was not her choice whether or not he liked her.

"You smell like butterbeer," he said after a while.

"I-I... well, I just, er, stopped at the 3 broomsticks before I came to get a quick drink," Mina stammered. Snape nodded at her.

"So... what's new?" she asked.

"Nothing, love, just sitting here and having a conversation with you," he said.

"Really? Nothing interesting has happened to you?"

"Nothing of yet. Well, actually, now that you mention it," he looked around to make sure nobody was watching, "Something big has happened a while ago. I have been hiding this for quite some time, but I think now is the best time to let you know." He took Mina's hand and laid it on his left arm, pulling up the sleeve a little. Mina saw something underneath, and her eyes widened in shock when she realized what it was. Her parents both had the same thing on their arms: the dark mark.

"Sev! You're only 15 years old! How could you do that? Are you insane? Do you want to get killed? What are you trying to do?" Mina shot out those questions so fast and didn't even give Snape a chance to answer her.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into! You tried to hide this from me, didn't you?" She asked. She was angry now.

"For your protection, of course, and mine. I didn't think I could ever tell you, but I knew that if I didn't soon, you would find out, and that would've been much worse. The Dark Lord was recruiting new death eaters at the time, and although I was young, he took me in. I'm willing to work for him, and I'm getting information," said Snape.

"What do you mean by information?" asked Mina.

"I know all of the Dark Lord's plans. I've managed to outsmart him. You see, Dumbledore knows about this. I'm a double agent." Snape expected Mina to relax at this, but it only made her more furious.

"You can't outsmart the Dark Lord! You'll get yourself killed!" said Mina.

"I know what I'm doing, Mina. I can handle it," he said.

"No you can't! I don't want to see you become the next of You-Know-Who's victims," she said.

"So you do have feelings for me. You don't want me dead," Snape said with a smile.

"STOP TOYING WITH MY EMOTIONS, DAMMIT!" The two people besides them who were in the café were now staring at Mina and Snape. Mina stormed out of the café, furious at what she just learned.

She didn't know what to do. Snape would wind up getting himself killed if he didn't stop messing around. How could Dumbledore be in on this? It couldn't have been his idea. Mina knew Snape was weird, but not crazy.

Mina broke out into a run now, eager to get back to the castle. She didn't have feelings for Snape, but she felt that if he died, somehow it would be her fault. She felt that everyone would blame her and she would have to live her life in shame. Her parents would laugh at her. Her friends wouldn't speak to her.

_NO! It's not my fault! It didn't even happen, and it's not going to! I won't let it!_

Mina then ran into someone, knocking them over.

"Omigod, I'm so sorry! I didn't see you and I-" She stopped when she saw it was Remus who she bumped into.

"That's ok, Mina," he said, smiling.

"Yeah, um, hi, Remus," she said, rubbing her head. She wasn't sure what she should say to him.

"Are you going back to the castle?" he asked her. She nodded. "I'll walk back with you, then" he said.

They walked in silence for the first few minutes. Mina wasn't quite sure what to say after what happened with Snape.

"So how was your date?" asked Remus.

"Date? Oh, it was not a date, I was- we were just... It really wasn't a date at all," she said.

"Sorry. You don't like Severus?" he asked.

"Not as anything but a friend, thank god," said Mina. Remus smiled at this. They kept walking.

"You're an interesting person, Mina. I'd like to get to know you a little better," he said after a while.

"Really?" Mina blushed, "Okay."

"Okay? Well, if you don't mind I would like to ask you to be my girlfriend," he said.

"You want to be my boyfriend?" Mina said, almost laughing.

"You don't like me, do you?" he asked.

"I- no! I mean yes, I do like you. I just thought it was funny that you, a Gryffindor, want to date me, a Slytherin," she said.

"I told you before, you're not like the others. You're special," he said. Mina smiled. She slipped her hand into his and they walked all the way back like that. Finally, when they got to the castle, she spoke.

"I would be honored to be your girlfriend, Remus Lupin," she smiled.

"Then it's settled. What day is it today?"

"Saturday the 12th of October," said Mina.

"Mark that date in your calendar, Ms. Gray, because we are officially going out," he said. He took her hand and kissed it before saying goodbye and going to his common room.

Mina went back to the Slytherin dorms and jumped on her bed, laughing. She was happy; Remus Lupin made her happy, and no guy, especially not Snape, could ever do that for her.


	6. Tricks are for kids

**Chapter 6**

"What are you so happy about?" Mina's roommate, Carly Davids, was sitting on her bed, eyeing Mina.

"Oh, _nothing_."

"Mina, I _know_ you. You're _never_ happy about nothing."

"Ok, in that case, I'll let you in on a little secret," She said. Carly grinned at this.

"I'm listening." Mina sat propped up against her pillows.

"I have a boyfriend, and you'll never be able to guess who it is, so don't try."

"Oh god, not _again_. This one better be good, Mina," said Carly.

"Excuse me? _Again_? I've only had one boyfriend before- that _prick_, Lucius Malfoy, who only dated me so he could meet my cousin, Narcissa," said Mina.

"What I'm saying is: don't make the same mistake twice."

"I won't, because this one's a **Gryffindor**."

"Oh, you poor thing! You're so desperate that you're dating a Gryffindor?" Carly joked. Mina threw a pillow at the girl.

"His name's Remus Lupin and he's really sweet," Mina explained.

"Boy, I've never heard that one before," said Carly sarcastically.

"What? I never said that Lucius was sweet when I dated him," said Mina.

"I'm just joking, Mina. You seem to really fancy this boy and it's not my decision who you date or what you do, so go out and do whatever you like."

"You're right. I do want to hear people's opinions, but... maybe I should run my own life. From now on, I do whatever the hell I want." Carly laughed.

"Good for you." Mina smiled at the Slytherin and went into the bathroom to fix her hair. It had been bothering her all day, so she let it down and brushed it out. She decided to change into something nicer, too. She put on a black tee with a frilly blue-gray skirt that fell just above her knees. She was not the prissy type, but that didn't mean she didn't own any skirts.

Mina went out into the hallway, figuring she would go find Lily, or someone to talk to. Snape was not the person she was looking for, but he cornered her in the hallway.

"You owe me a date for walking out on me," he said with a malevolent smile on his lips.

"I never said it was a date," Mina protested. He walked toward her.

"That's too bad." He had her up against the wall now and he leaned his tall body on hers. Mina was scared now.

"What do you think you're doing? Get off me," she said. Snape stepped back and laughed.

"You should've seen the look on your face! You thought I was going to make a move on you!" he said.

"Hmph! You wouldn't be so brave enough to try."

"One of these days, Mina," he said, reaching up a hand to stroke her long chestnut hair, "I will hold your heart in my hands." He smiled deviously.

"You are too weird," Mina shook her head at him.

"I thought that was why you were friends with me," he grinned.

"I'm friends with you, Severus, because you are one of the few Slytherins who is not a jackass, you're a 5th year like me, and I have to see you every bloody day," she said.

"That's good to know. So where're you going?"

"Away from here."

"Can I come with you?" Mina eyed Snape suspiciously. What in the world was he up to?

"As long as you keep your distance," she said. Snape put his hands up in defense.

"Hey, I'm just looking to spend some time with you like we always do. I won't harass you, don't worry," he said with a sense of sincerity.

"Ok, I trust you." They continued walking in silence.

"Where are we going?" Mina finally asked.

"I don't know, I was following you. It looks like we're heading for Gryffindor Tower, though." Mina frowned. She did not want to go there, yet had she been subconsciously leading Snape there?

Lily walked down the hall at that time, and a smile lit up her face when she saw Mina. Mina was relieved to see her and not Lupin. Was there a reason she didn't want Snape to know about Lupin? Perhaps it was because it is unthinkable for a Gryffindor and a Slytherin to be dating, or maybe because she didn't want Snape to be jealous.

"Hey Mina, how'd your date with Remus go?" Brilliant, thought Mina. Her cover was blown. Thank you, Lily Evans.

"Remus Lupin? Isn't he a Gryffindor?" asked Snape.

"Oh, it wasn't a date," said Mina.

"Are you sure?" asked Lily, grinning.

"Mina wouldn't lie," Remus seemed to almost appear out of nowhere. Did he just defend her?

"Remus, hi," Mina gave him an awkward smile as he stepped next to her.

"So what is going on with you two?" asked Lily.

"Yes, please tell," said Snape. Mina looked at Remus, searching his eyes for an answer. He smiled.

"There's nothing going on. Are you jealous?" he asked. Snape studied him for a moment.

"No," he said serenely. Mina blinked. Were the two guys who liked her denying their feelings?

"Actually, Sev, Remus and I are sort of seeing each other since this morning, but it's no big deal. Unless it is to you?" she turned to look at Remus.

"No big deal," he agreed.

"I should hope not," said Snape. Snape and Remus were staring at each other. Mina felt awkward.

"I should go," said Lily.

"No Lily, please stay," Mina begged her friend. Lily nodded at her and waited. Remus then slid his arm around Mina's waist possessively. She looked at Lily, then at Snape, and then down at her feet. This indeed was very awkward.

"Well this is an adorable seen!" Phoebe was at the other side of the hallway, staring at the couple.

"Phoebs," said Mina, suddenly very happy to see her, "where did you come from?"

"I was on my way to see you guys. But I guess you're all busy?"

"Not at all." Mina slid out of Remus' grip and walked over to her Ravenclaw friend.

"How was Hogsmeade?" she asked.

"First tell me how was your date?" said Phoebe.

"Mina says it wasn't a date," said Lily. Snape and Remus looked at each other realizing that the three had now engaged in 'girl' conversation, and both walked away in opposite directions.

"Really? Well, how'd it go anyways?"

"First answer my question. How was your time at Hogsmeade?" Mina asked, trying to avoid Phoebe's interrogation.

"Good, but I wanted to hang out there with you. Do you wanna go to Honeydukes with me?" asked Phoebe. Lily and Mina exchanged glances, a glint in both of their eyes. They nodded in unison. They all then headed back to Hogsmeade together.

"Honeydukes was really busy this morning, but I see it's empty now," said Phoebe when they entered the candy shop.

"I guess so. So, Mina, you never told us what happened with Remus," said Lily with eagerness in her voice.

"Well," she began, the two of them listening intently, "I got to the 3 broomsticks, and-"

"Ooh! Chocolate!" Phoebe's attention was diverted as she spotted her favorite thing in the whole world, like a hawk spotting it's prey. She grabbed for a chocolate frog, took out five sickles, and paid for it, before slowly devouring it. Lily and Mina laughed. There was nothing funnier then to see Phoebe chowing down on chocolate.

"Anyway," Mina continued, "we didn't talk for long. We ordered some butterbeer, and most of the time was spent just staring into each other's eyes. God, I wish I could just reach out to him. He seems so frightened, but I can't figure out what it is. It's like there's something bothering him and he can't get it off his back to tell me."

"Maybe you need to talk to him a little more," said Phoebe, re-entering the conversation.

"Maybe." Mina reached into her bag and took out a tissue.

"You have a little chocolate on your face, Phoebe," she said, handing her the tissue. The Asian girl blushed in embarrassment.

"Thanks." She wiped her face.

"I think he's just afraid to open up to you. You only just started going out with him. I'm sure if you give it a little time, it'll be fine," said Lily.

"Yeah, you're right." Mina sighed and took a look at the large selection of candy and chocolates in front of her. After a while she grabbed a bag of Bertie Bott's every flavor beans, 2 sugar quills, and a chocolate frog and put them on the counter.

"2 galleons," said the man behind the counter. Mina paid for her candy and he put it in a little baggie for her. "Have a nice day."

"Lily, aren't you getting anything?" asked Mina.

"No, that's alright. Let's go to Zonko's," she said. A smile formed on Mina and Phoebe's faces. They knew Lily was up to something when she passed up candy and wanted to go to the joke shop.

"Going to play another little prank on Potter?" Mina asked. Lily nodded and smiled mischievously. They all headed out to Zonko's joke shop to search for a new prank.

There were all sorts of jokes to get, but one in particular caught Lily's eye, and Phoebe and Mina both knew there was no arguing with her.

"Doc's Bag of Tricks," said Lily, holding up a small orange bag.

"What does it do? What does it do?" asked Phoebe. It was probably the chocolate that made her so hyper all of a sudden.

"This bag can be charmed to look like anything's in it, but in fact, it is really empty. Then, when somebody sticks their hand inside, they'll be getting a real shock."

"Ooh! What's going to happen?" Phoebe chirped.

"That's exactly what'll happen. A shock, as in an electric shock," Lily couldn't help giggling with glee at the thought of James being shocked.

"That's perfect! I can't wait to see the look on Potter's face!" exclaimed Mina.

"His face? I can't wait to see his hair after he gets bolted! It'll be so funny looking," said Lily. Phoebe giggled.

"Ladies, victory shall be ours," said Mina confidently. Then all three paraded back to the castle proudly, where an oblivious James Potter was waiting.

Back in the Gryffindor common room, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were studying for a charms quiz. Not one of them was brilliant at Charms, except Remus, and none of them liked the subject, either, but they all figured they should put in some hours.

Remus still couldn't get his thoughts off of Mina, however. He had honestly never felt that way before about a girl, and he couldn't describe the feeling, but he knew it was a good one and that he didn't want to lose her. Especially not to a git like Snape. He and his friends despised Severus Snape because he was such a loser and easy to pick on. Mina was kind to him still, and that didn't make Remus feel any better.

"Hey boys." James stared up into the face of the girl he loved, the one girl in all of Gryffindor who didn't like him: Lily Evans. She seemed especially happy today. Must be up to her old tricks. James would have to remember to hex her or something later.

"Why are you so happy?" asked Sirius Black.

"No reason. Girls, come on in; don't be nervous." Phoebe and Mina peeked their heads over from behind the door.

"You let in two girls who aren't in Gryffindor?" James remarked.

"You let in a Slytherin?" Peter said in shock.

"You let in my cousin?" Sirius was angry.

"This is a violation of my privacy," said James.

"What's so private that I can't see?" asked Mina. She stared down at the book in his lap. "Oh no, not your Charms textbook! I can't believe what I just saw!" The three girls giggled.

"Out! Out! Out! Get the bloody hell out of here!" Sirius demanded.

"Relax, dear cousin, I won't stay for long. We're just visiting." Mina said with a grin. She looked over at Remus and winked.

"Are you guys hungry?" asked Lily.

"Starved," said James. He raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"

"We brought some Bertie Bott's beans back from Honeydukes," said Lily, holding up that little orange bag.

"Peter, be a mate and have one of Lily's beans," said James.

"Aw, do I gotta?" asked Peter.

"What's wrong, James? Afraid of a little jellybean? You can handle a big bad vomit-flavored bean, can't you? Or a dirt-flavored bean? That's not so bad, is it?" Lily tempted him.

"It's not the flavor of the bean I'm worried about. It's what the bean will do to me if I eat it."

"Well, in that case, take a bean out of the bag and give it to Peter for him, okay?" James eyed her, but then gave in and stuck his hand in the bag.

"YOW!" a bolt of electricity struck through James' entire body, sending him to the floor. The girls began laughing hysterically, and Peter even gave a giggle until he noticed James staring at him.

"Why couldn't _you _do it?" He said through clenched teeth.

"Oh, you poor baby," said Lily teasingly. James could not take the mockery much longer. He grabbed Lily's ankle and she fell on top of him. He grinned.

"I like you much better in this position," he said. Lily slapped him.

"Pervert!" she got up and brushed herself off.

"You're such a jerk, Potter!" Mina hissed.

"Wait a minute! I've had enough of this! You electrocute James and _he's_ the jerk?" Remus defended.

"That was funny. That comment he made was disgusting," said Mina.

"You know James. He's like that a lot. But you three don't have to be effing bitches all the time!" said Sirius.

"Who you calling a bitch?" asked Phoebe defensively.

"Ok, I don't know you're name, so I'll call you cutie for now, but you are not the bitch. It's your little friends who are," said Sirius.

"Cutie? Where'd you come up with that one?"

"Because you're cute," said Sirius.

"Really? You think I am?" Phoebe was so gullible sometimes.

"Don't listen to him, Phoebe. He's just flirting with you so you'll join his side," said Mina.

"For your information, Mina, I do think she's cute. And nice. You don't deserve her friendship," said Sirius.

"See, Phoebe, he's turning you against me!"

"Enough of this foolishness," said Remus. Everyone stopped and looked at him. His arms were crossed and he seemed really pissed off.

"You are all acting like a bunch of 7-year-olds. I want you all to stop bickering this moment. Lily, enough with the pranks. That goes for you, too, James. Phoebe, Mina, I want you to go back to your own common rooms now," said Remus.

"Yes sir," Phoebe said, saluting him and marching off like a soldier.

"Remus, I'm staying here. I'm not a kid, okay?" said Mina. He gave her a long look.

"Go to the library, then," he said. He winked at her and she got the picture and headed off to the library.

"Lily, do you have something to do?" Remus asked.

"I guess I could go study for tomorrow's quiz." She headed off to her own dormitory.

"Sirius, James, stop acting like idiots and leave those girls alone, okay?" Sirius and James nodded, both knowing that this would never happen.

"I have something I need to do now," said Remus as he headed out for the library where Mina was waiting for him patiently. She seemed very pleased.

"You put on a good show, Mr. Lupin," she said. He smiled.

"Why thank you, Ms. Gray." He put his arms around her waist and pulled her into a tight embrace, kissing her on the lips. She returned the kiss eagerly, her left hand sliding around his neck and her right running through his sandy hair. He was shorter than Snape, but taller than her, for Mina was only 5'3". He had to lean down a little to enjoy the full length of the kiss. It seemed to last for ages, and he wished it would last for all of eternity, but she pulled away from their embrace.

"I'm glad I met you," she said. He beamed at her.

"Me too." She loved his smile, because it made her warm inside. She seemed to melt as she felt his lips on hers once again. Snape wouldn't be able to get a hold of her heart now, for it seemed to belong to Remus Lupin. She had longed for somebody to capture her heart and she never could've imagined it would be a Gryffindor prefect, but she loved the feeling of being in his arms and she knew that none other could have her now.

"You're amazing," said Remus as he stared deep into her gray eyes. He really did love her eyes, as he had told her on their "date" earlier. He felt he could stare at them forever. He held her in his arms placing kisses on her cheek and neck now. He had found the one thing he had most desired, and he wanted to never let her out of his sight. He would always be there for her. Or would he? Thoughts flooded his mind of the time when the full moon would come and she'd be all alone in the dark. He would not be able to help her. He would not be able to save her from the monster inside of him.

"What are you thinking about?" Mina's voice shattered the bad thoughts.

"You, of course," he said, kissing her on the nose.

"What about me?" she asked. He did not answer, but just kept caressing her.

"Did you tell anyone else about us?" Mina asked.

"Not a soul. Do you want to keep it a secret?"

"Well I don't think Lily, Phoebe or Snape will tell anyone. I told my roommate but she won't spill either."

"So is that a yes or a no?"

"It's a 'until we're ready to let the rest of Hogwarts know'," said Mina.

"That's good enough for me. I'm just happy I found you, _Angel_," he said deeply.

"Angel?"

"That's what you are to me. An angel," he stared at her, wondering if she was ok about the nickname he gave her. She nodded, as if reading his mind. Suddenly, a chime from the library clock sounded, telling them it was dinnertime.

**I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter as much as i did writing it!!! I think this is my longest chapter yet, and I can't guarantee the others will be longer, but I'll try. To my reviewers:**

**Bebe 11-24- well, Bianca, I'm glad that romance excites you. And if you keep reading and reviewing, then I'll keep writing. A girl's gotta have her motivation, am I right? And that's where the loyal fans come in. Okay, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here. I'll shut up now.**

**PaulC- I'm glad, too. All I know about Snape is he becomes a double agent for Dumbledore, it doesn't say how or when. **

****

**Thanks for reviewing guys! I love you all! All 2 of you! **

**Ciao!**


	7. parties and calls from Voldemort

**Chapter 7**

**Can you believe it! 7! 7! 7 beautiful chapters! I'm on a role here! Yeah!

* * *

**

Hand in hand, Remus and Mina headed to the Great Hall, splitting up to go to their separate tables. Lily sat at the Slytherin table today, wanting to talk to Mina.

"I saw Remus leave the common room after he gave us that little lecture. What happened?" Lily asked eagerly. Mina looked around the table at Snape, Regulus, and the rest of the Slytherins. Not wanting to discuss anything in front of them, she grabbed Lily by the arm and brought her into the hallway.

"If you must know, Lily, dear, and I'll only tell you because I love you like a sister, then I'll tell you. We, er... went to the library..." Lily raised an eyebrow.

"And?"

"And snogged until the clock chimed for dinner. Ok?" Content with what she said, Mina headed for the Great Hall. Lily, unsatisfied, grabbed her by the arm.

"Not ok. Give me the details. Is he a good kisser? Does he have bad breath? Does he have any funny habits when he's being kissed?" Mina laughed.

"Uh...that part's private, although he is a good kisser. I didn't think that was possible seeing as the poor boy's too shy to have ever had a girlfriend before. He must practice in his free time, just don't ask me how," said Mina. Lily giggled.

"Whatever you say... Do you like him?" Mina hesitated.

"More than I thought possible."

"Does he like you?"

"I hope." Mina went back in the room about to take a seat, but Lily grabbed her again and forced her to sit at the Gryffindor table with her.

"If you really like him, sit with him..." Lily explained. She forced Mina into a seat that was between her and Remus, and the Marauders all gave them weird glances.

"Lil... I don't think this is a good idea," Mina complained.

"Shut up, Mina. Nobody gives a crap who sits where anymore."

"That's not it, _Lily_," Mina elbowed her friend.

"Ow!"

"What in the world is going on?" asked Remus. Mina looked at him.

"Um... nothing. _Nothing_." She poked at him under the table and he gave her a look. She raised an eyebrow suggestively. Rubbing his leg with her hand, he slipped his hand under the table and grabbed hers. Lily saw them holding hands under the table and giggled.

Lily was sitting across from James Potter, who sat next to Sirius and Peter. For some reason, Mina could see Lily and James together... But it could not be possible. James was a jerk, but he was cute, and he really adored Lily. For the first time Mina noticed the way he stared at Lily when she was not looking, and she felt she could read his thoughts. Shaking her head, she then realized how hungry she was.

"Hey, Sirius, pass the salad," said Mina.

"You get it yourself, _Gray_," he sneered at her. Why was he being that way towards her? Mina shrugged and leaned over Remus to grab the salad bowl.

"Lalalalala..." Phoebe Chang hummed a tune, skipping her way over to the Gryffindor table.

"Phoebs, what's up?" asked Lily.

"Phoebe Nix Chang, here to deliver a message to Mina Tabatha Gray, from the Slytherin table," Phoebe chimed. She was holding a folded piece of parchment, which she handed to Mina.

"Thanks, Phoebe." Opening the parchment, Mina read:

**Halloween Dance on October 26 at the Great Hall**

**for all Hogwarts students from 4th year and above to attend. **

**Dance starts 7:30 and ends 9:30. **

**If you are caught outside your common rooms past 9:30, **

**you're in for a month's detention. **

_**Mina**_

_**Come with me. I won't bother you, I promise**_

_**Severus Snape**_

"Go! Go! Go!" said Phoebe.

"Don't read over my shoulder! And... I'm not, well, I _might _consider it," said Mina.

"What is it?" asked Lily.

"Nothing," said Mina.

"Nothing?" the conversation had now caught Remus' attention.

"Let me see!" James grabbed the letter out of Mina's hands.

"Rude!" Mina declared.

"Oh, go with Snivellus! He needs a date. Poor guy's so desperate..."

"I'll decide for myself, Potter. I sort of had someone else in mind, anyway," she said.

"Mina's in _love_!" Sirius announced.

"Shh! Keep your voice down, dammit! I am _not_ in love." Mina protested.

"Yeah you are. So what greasy little Slytherin is it this time?" asked Sirius.

"Oh, shut up!" Not in the mood to yell at her cousin for his rudeness, Mina got up from the table and left the room. Remus was about to follow her, but Lily shook her head at him.

"That girl has some _serious_ problems," Sirius said. (A/N: Haha, serious, Sirius, oh I crack myself up)

"What? You think she _likes_ Snape? You are such a jerk, Sirius," said Lily.

"Good one, mate!" James high-fived Sirius. Usually it was James who was called the jerk, but they always manage to piss off Lily somehow.

Shaking her head at the two boys, Lily stood up and followed her best friend out of the room.

"Mina! They're just being jerks as usual, so quit flipping out!" said Lily.

"Lil, they don't know about me and Remus! And I really don't intend for them to find out!" said Mina.

"I know, I know. Just please don't get mad at them," said Lily.

"Are you sticking up for Sirius and Potter?" asked Mina.

"So what if I am? They've been immature and insensitive for as long as we've known them, right? But if you're going out with Remus now, maybe you'll just have to learn to deal with those two," said Lily. Mina did have to admit, she had a point. Laughing in frustration and content, she shook her head at Lily.

"Maybe you're right. I'm stressing way too much over this. This relationship is going to work out!" Lily grinned.

"That's good to know," came Remus' soft, warm voice. Mina whirled around to find him standing literally two inches from her. Mina couldn't help but smile widely.

"So when do we take it to the next level?" she asked. Cold, soft fingers reached for warm, yet pale hands, squeezing slightly.

"Be patient, love," he said, returning her squeeze.

"You two fit together perfectly," said Lily with excitement.

"Remus? You alright?" Peter entered the hallway and Remus and Mina quickly tore their hands apart.

"Yeah, um... just getting a breath of fresh air," he explained.

"What's going on? Are you guys having a party without me?" Phoebe complained, entering behind Peter.

"A party? Am I invited? You guys know I'm the life of a party," said Sirius who stood next to Phoebe.

"Guys, there's no party!" said Lily.

"A party? Why wasn't I invited?" James now entered the room.

"Because nobody likes you," said Mina. Lily shot her a quick glance telling her not to mess with Potter.

"Hey there, Cutie," Phoebe jumped as Sirius gave her ass a squeeze, "How about you and me have our own little party up in my bedroom?"

"Um..." Phoebe was speechless. How could a guy be so hot and yet at the same time be so perverted?

"Just say no, okay, Hun?" Mina said. Phoebe nodded and slowly backed away from Sirius.

"So Lily, what's up?" James grinned at the redhead, putting an arm around her.

"Don't even try it, Potter," she said.

With everything that was going on, Mina realized that Remus wasn't even in the room anymore. She thought she saw someone hurrying out of the hallway, so she went to go catch up.

"Hey, wait up!" she shouted, but when the figure turned around, she realized it was Snape.

"Sev? What's wrong?" She and Snape were alone in the hall, and he seemed to be frightened.

"Nothing." Something was wrong, though. He was clutching at his left wrist.

"Snape, come here," Mina said. He reluctantly obeyed her. She pulled up his sleeve and saw that his dark mark was blood red on his arm. Lord Voldemort was calling his death eaters.

"Oh god. Sev, this is very dangerous. Don't go, please." She pleaded with him, but he only shook his head.

"I must. Do you want me to die?"

"No." She knew Snape was in danger anyway, and she couldn't keep her thoughts off of her parents, either. Three very important people in her life were death eaters, servants of the Dark Lord. Why? A tear fell across her cheek, and Snape wiped it away.

"Don't cry, love." He kissed her cheek where the tear had fallen, and left abruptly. No, no, no! She was not crying over Snape. She couldn't have been crying over Severus Snape.

"You fool! I don't care if you get killed!" she found herself shouting after he already left.

Back in her own bedroom, Mina flopped down on her bed, her thoughts now dwelling on the chaos that was this entire weekend. She knew she had a Charms test tomorrow, but she didn't bother to study. She was already failing that class and planning on dropping it, even though it was one of the few classes she and Lily had together. They had Charms, Transfiguration, D.A. Dark Arts, and Potions together. Mina let herself fall asleep, making a mental note just before that to go talk to Dumbledore in the morning about dropping Charms.

* * *

**A/N: well there you have it. Chapter 7. Did you guys know that reading your reviews just makes my day? It's weird, but it really does!**

**Crazayladay- fan-freakin-tastic; I've never heard that one b4. And Remus really is perfect, isn't he? ...Well, except for the monthly visit. But you know what I mean.**

**Bebe 11-24 – Bianca, you're crazy. No really, you literally are a crazy person and should be locked up in a mental asylum or something. Lol. So, since I'll 4get to tell you in school, I'd like to wish you an early "Happy Birthday"! Enjoy being 14, er, I mean 15. LOL.**

**Missmee- well, Snape and Mina have been friends since the first year, and I guess I forgot to mention that bit, so now you know. But I'm glad you like my story.**

**THANKYOU EVERYBODY! I love you guys so much:cries: I'm just so happy!**


	8. Charming Grades

**Ah, I haven't written in so long! Sorry about the inconvenience, folks! **

**Well, here you have it: **

**Chapter 8.

* * *

**

That morning before classes began, Mina headed to Dumbledore's office. She was surprised to see Snape there instead of Dumbledore and questioned him about it."Dumbledore said he'd be right back," Snape explained.

"And what are you doing here? What happened last night?"

"I came here to tell Dumbledore what happened." The doorknob turned and they looked up to see Dumbledore enter the room.

"Good morning, Ms. Gray. I'm sorry, but I must ask you to wait outside my office while I speak to Severus in private," he said.

"But I already know what this is about! I want to hear what happened," Mina argued. Dumbledore's gaze went form Mina to Snape, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Severus, didn't I tell you to keep this a secret? Do you want to get yourself killed? This is a very serious matter!"

"I trust her, Professor! She won't tell a soul!"

"How can you be sure?"

"Professor, I wouldn't do that! I would not betray a friend," Mina explained. Dumbledore studied her, and after thinking it over, he reconsidered.

"Perhaps you wouldn't; and since you already know, then there's nothing else to keep from you. You may stay if you wish to hear what happened," said Dumbledore. He nodded at Snape, who began to tell his story.

"We discussed plans for an attack on Hogsmeade in a month. On November 17, actually. So, I'd suggest you keep the students in on that particular weekend," Snape said. Mina's mouth dropped open. Snape seemed so used to being a double agent. He acted as if anyone could do the job.

"Very good. I'll have the Order guard Hogsmeade that weekend," Dumbledore said.

The Order? Mina didn't know what it was, but her mother raised her not to ask questions about things she didn't know, so she kept her mouth shut.

"Is that all, Severus?" Dumbledore asked. Snape's eyes fell on Mina, and he nodded his head.

"Very well. You may go." Snape left the room, but Mina lingered.

"Professor, I need to talk to you about my grades in Charms," she said.

"Ah, yes, I heard you weren't doing so well. What do you propose to do?"

"Well, I was thinking about dropping the class all together."

"Charms is a required class, Ms. Gray. You can't drop it."

"I know, but I'm already failing, so I thought I could make it up some other way," Mina said.

"Currently, you are failing, but there is a chance for you to bring up your grade. Have you considered getting a tutor?" Dumbledore's suggestion had not even occurred to Mina. Who would want to tutor her?

"Is there anyone out there willing to tutor someone like me?" she asked.

"I know someone who's looking for some work. One of the prefects, in fact. If you pay them, I think they'll tutor you," Dumbledore said.

"I don't know... I'm a little short on cash."

"That's okay. I'm sure you'll work something out. So, let's give it a week, and then you two can meet. This Friday after classes, okay?"

"Uh... sure."

"Well, then, now that that's settled... class is about to start, so..."

"Oh, yeah, thank you Professor. Bye!" Mina turned and left, thinking about who her tutor might be.

"Mina!" She turned her head to see a very hyper Phoebe running down the hall to meet her.

"Hey, Phoebs. What's up?"

"Not much. Ready for Herbology?"

"Yeah. Can't wait to plant magical...things," Mina said sarcastically. She really hated herbology, but wasn't too bad at the subject. The two of them headed off to the greenhouses.

Professor Shrub, the Herbology teacher, was teaching about different plants used to create the ingredients for Bertie Bott's every flavor beans. Phoebe seemed interested, since the subject was about candy, but she lost interest after a while.

"So, Mina, who's the other person you wanted to go to the dance with?"

"You know who the other person is: Remus. But like I said, I'm not sure yet. I don't even know if I want to go. I'm not big on dancing. I don't even know why we're having a Halloween dance in the first place," said Mina.

"You're right. Nobody in this school dances. But a lot of people like to celebrate Halloween," said Phoebe.

"Do you?"

"Halloween? Free candy? Hell yeah! I know just who to ask to the dance, too!" said Phoebe excitedly.

"Who?"

"Your cousin."

"WHAT? Not Sirius! You like him?" Mina was shocked.

"I don't know, but I know that he likes me," said Phoebe confidently.

"You're crazy! Look, Sirius likes just about every girl in this school. I guarantee he already has a date," said Mina.

"Can you ask him for me?"

"No way! You'll see him at lunch today. You ask him," said Mina.

"Okay."

"The vomiterra bush is used to make the vomit-flavored beans," Professor Shrub's voice trailed off in the background, but Mina chose not to pay attention to it.

* * *

During lunch, Mina sat at the Ravenclaw table, thinking about tutoring and the issue of money. She took out a quill and parchment, intent on writing a letter to her parents. 

**Dear Mom and Dad, **

**Please hear me out and do not get mad, but I am failing Charms and am in need of money for a tutor. I have spoken to Dumbledore about this, and everything is taken care of, so there is nothing to worry about. If you could kindly send some extra money to me, I will be able to pay my tutor, who I am to be meeting with this Friday. Thank you,**

**Mina **

"You're failing Charms?" Phoebe was caught once again reading over Mina's shoulder.

"Yes, Phoebe, in case you haven't noticed, I suck at Charms," Mina replied.

"Do you know who you're tutor is?"

"One of the prefects. I'm not sure who."

"Well, most of the prefects are smart. I mean, you're smart, too, but... oh, never mind," said Phoebe. Mina raised an eyebrow.

"Well- Oh, look, it's the musketeers. Here's your chance to ask Sirius to the dance, Phoebe." The Marauders had indeed just entered the Great Hall.

"Oh, I just can't. You're right. He probably already has a date, anyway. I was stupid to think that he liked me," said Phoebe. But Sirius spotted her in the crowd and began walking towards her.

"I don't know, Phoebe. Maybe he does. He's certainly not coming over to talk to me," said Mina.

"Hey Cutie," Sirius pulled up a chair in between Mina and Phoebe.

"S-Sirius, hi. What are you doing here?" Phoebe spoke nervously.

"What're you doing in two weeks from now?"

"Uh..." Phoebe tried to think what was going on in two weeks.

"Don't answer that. Just listen- come with me to the dance," said Sirius.

"The dance! Oh yeah! Wait... you want to go with me?" Sirius nodded.

"Has anybody else asked you?"

"Not yet. There's another two weeks."

"Hey! I have an idea! Let's wait until those two weeks are up, and if nobody else asks you, you and Phoebe will go together," said Mina.

"Mina!"

"No, that's a good idea," said Sirius, "I'll see you, Cutie." He patted Phoebe on the rear and got up.

"A lot of girls are going to ask him! I'll never have a chance!"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you, Phoebe. He doesn't care for you! He just wants to date every girl in this school that's not related to him and is in 4th year or above," said Mina.

"Hello _Angel_." A hand fell on Mina's shoulder. She felt warm breath on the back of her neck, and turned around slowly.

"Remus," she did not smile, but her eyes gleamed with contentment.

"Let's go somewhere and _talk_," he said.

"Oh. Sure, let's go _talk_," she said. She waved goodbye to Phoebe and got up, following Remus out of the room.

"Empty classroom's usually the best place to talk in private," said Remus.

"I don't know. I prefer bedrooms, but whatever," said Mina. Remus looked her over.

"Uh… Well, I mean, if you want to..."

"It was just a joke. Don't get any ideas, now," she said. They walked into a random classroom.

"Don't worry, I won't," he said with a grin closing the door behind him. Mina laughed and threw her arms around his neck. Pushing him up against the door, she leaned on the tip of her toes and pressed her lips against his. Kissing her back eagerly, he put his hands around her back. She ran her fingers through his hair, silently promising never to let go of him. She knew this was the best relationship she'd ever been in, and all they'd done was kiss, but she intended for it to go much, much further someday. Today was not that day.

"I know we came here to talk, but we really need to talk," Remus said.

"What?"

"I have to talk to you about something."

"Oh. About what?"

"Well, you know that Halloween dance thing? I didn't want to go, but I realize that you probably want to, right?"

"No."

"No? You mean you don't want to go?" Remus was surprised.

"Not really. Unless you want to. Do you?"

"Not unless you do," he said.

"Good. Now that that's settled," she leaned in to kiss him but he pushed her away.

"I'm not done talking."

"Neither am I." She kissed him, this time opening her mouth just a little, inviting him in. He couldn't resist, and flung his arms around her once more. The bell rang. For a second, neither of them moved, but then Mina pulled away.

"Oh. Did the bell ring?" Remus asked. Mina nodded.

"Students will be coming in here any second. We'd better get to class," she said, and pulled him out of the room quickly.

"I believe we have Charms together, right? Slytherins and Gryffindors," he said.

"That's the only good thing about Charms class," she replied.

"Well, Mina, I'm glad you're glad to see me, but don't you think the class is important, too?"

"Not at all. Only you matter to me," she said in an entrancing voice. She snaked her arm around his waist, but he pushed it away.

"Is that so?"

"Yes. I hate Charms, anyway," she said.

"Mina, it's very important! Especially since we have the OWLS at the end of the year!"

"Don't get so upset, Remus, I know what I'm doing. Well, actually, I don't know what I'm doing, but that's why I'm getting a tutor," she said.

"What are your grades?"

"So far? I'm failing the class," she said.

"Mina!" A couple of heads turned and Remus realized how loud he'd been.

"What?"

"Class is going to start, let's just go," He grabbed her hand forcefully and pulled her away to their classroom.

Mina pulled her hand away as they entered the room and sat down next to Lily just as the bell had rung.

"What's up?" asked Lily.

"Nothing. Just having another stressful day," said Mina.

"Well, I have good news, so cheer up!"

"What?"

"I finally got the courage to ask Frank Longbottom to the Halloween Dance!"

"Really? That's great! What did he say?"

"He said he'd have to think about it, but that's good, right?"

"Yeah. Hey, Phoebe got asked out, too. By my cousin."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"And Severus asked you to go, too, so I guess we're all going with someone," said Lily.

"Wrong. I'm not going."

"What?"

"I don't want to go, so you guys just go without me. You'll have fun," said Mina.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Miss Evans, Miss Gray, please be quiet!" Professor Flitwick scolded.

Lily took out a parchment and wrote down:

**What about Remus?**

Mina answered underneath:

**He doesn't want to go either.**

Lily nodded her head, although she didn't understand why anyone wouldn't want to go. Partying and hanging out past curfew is loads of fun.

* * *

** to my reviewers-**

**bookluva629- i must thankyou for reviewing all my stories. hope you liked the kissing in this chapter. .**

**crazayladay- werewolves are sexy... and so is hugh jackman. Since you are the demanding reviewer of this story, i will apologize personally that i haven't updated as often as you've been asking me to. so, sorry. **


	9. Tutors and Eavesdroppers

**Hi all. Sorry I haven't written in so long. I need to catch up on my other stories, too, but we'll start with this one. There is a little cursing in this chapter, so be warned.  
Chapter 9**

Friday came quickly and Mina found herself in the hallway of Dumbledore's office, waiting patiently for her tutor to arrive. Dumbledore walked outside and beamed at her.

"He's not here yet, then?"

"Not yet," she replied, returning his smile.

"Professor," Remus entered the hallway with a book in his hand.

"Ah, you're here, Remus," Dumbledore greeted.

"Mina? I knew you needed a tutor, but I didn't think the girl I was tutoring would be you," Remus' attention turned to his girlfriend.

"Well, I see you two know each other, already, so you can skip straight to the studying," Dumbledore said. He turned and went back into his office. Mina stared up at Remus.

"Dumbledore's right," he said, "We need to study." Mina smiled, thinking how much she'd love to study Remus.

"Are we going to the library to study?" she asked.

"Well, that's what I had planned, but if you want to go somewhere else, then that's okay."

"No, the library's fine." She grabbed his hand and led him to the library. Not surprisingly, it was empty. They both took a seat. Mina sat rather close to Remus and had her arm around his neck, playing with his hair. She looked over his shoulder as he opened the Charms textbook.

"You realize this is the perfect opportunity, right? I mean, we can't exactly kiss in public, can we? We'll have the library all to ourselves on Fridays," she said.

"Mina," Remus said as he peeled her arm off of himself, "How do you expect to bring your grades up if you don't let me tutor you properly? Grades should come first."

"They do come first. I promise to be good," Mina said with a hand over her heart.

After studying for 2 long hours, Mina finally began to realize the importance of Charms. Gathering her books together, she gave Remus a quick good-bye kiss when Snape came running into the room. He stopped, panting, too tired to speak, and grabbed Mina's arm, pulling her off of Remus. Confused and shocked, Mina accidently fell on top of Snape; and then she heard a voice she dreaded.

"Mina! Oh, my! You'd better control yourself or I'll be a grandma before you know it!"

"Oh shit." Mina stood up and stared into the eyes of her mother.

"Watch your language in front of your mum!" Mrs. Gray scolded.

"Mum, what in the bloody hell are you doing at my school?" Mina remembered what Snape had said about the attack on Hogsmeade and shuddered.

"I came to financially support my daughter, okay? Is that a crime? Plus, I wanted to talk about your grades."

"Mother, everything is taken care of! You didn't have to come here!"

"Oh yes I did! Anyway, first thing's first. Are you and Severus seeing each other? And who's that boy over there?" Mrs. Gray looked at Snape, then at Lupin, then at Mina again.

"Well…" Mina wasn't sure how to reply.

"Well, Mrs. Gray, that first question is completely up to Mina, but I assure you that I do fancy your daughter," Snape stepped in.

"Well, Severus, I think you two would make a lovely couple," said Mrs. Gray. Remus cleared his throat.

"Don't mind me, I'm just her tutor. I'll leave now," he proceeded to leave.

"Remus, don't go!" Mina protested.

"Yes, please wait. I'll pay you," Mrs. Gray said.

"That won't be necessary, Mrs. Gray," Remus replied.

"Are you positive?"

"Yes." He left.

"Anyway, Mina, I don't want Severus to be a distraction for you. You need to pull up your grades, okay?" Mina nodded, knowing her mother had a point. Well, not about Snape, but about Remus, who had been trying to tell her the same thing.

"I'm going to go see the headmaster now, so you two be good," Mrs. Gray said as she left.

"Sev, you saved my life!" Mina threw her arms around Snape in a friendly hug. Snape smirked.

"Yeah, well, you owe me big time," he said.

"I know."

"So… how will you repay me?"

"Don't tell me you actually want me to repay you! That's so selfish!"

"Look who's talking! Besides, I'm a Slytherin. I have a right to be selfish, and so do you," he said.

"Well, I guess I can figure some way to make it up to you. Honestly, if my mum saw me with Remus, she'd flip!"

"Well, how about that Halloween Dance?" Snape grinned mischievously. Mina stared blankly at him.

"Are you kidding me? No way!" she exclaimed.

"Why? Because you're going with Remus. I understand."

"I'm not going to that stupid dance at all! I hate dances!"

"Go for me!"

"No way!"

"PLEASE." Mina hesitated. What else could she do?

"Snape, can you just think of some other way?"

"You're embarrassed to be seen with me, aren't you?"

"People will talk, Sev."

"It's a dance. Nothing more. We're going as friends. You're doing me a favor."

"A _big_ favor," Mina corrected him.

"Please," Snape pleaded. She sighed.

"Alright, I'll go to the stupid dance with you. Now would you leave me alone?"

"Gladly." He patted her on the back and left. Mina sat down, frustrated, and buried her face in her arms. What was it she was doing that had been interrupted? Oh yes. Remus Lupin. He had left the room so abruptly… She had to find him and apologize. Picking up her books, Mina exited the library. To her surprise, Sirius was in the hallway, arms crossed, tapping his foot.

"Why were you eavesdropping on me?" She asked him immediately.

"Mina! So quick to jump to conclusions, are we? Don't just assume I was listening to your conversation, because I wasn't!" he answered.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I was listening to a part of your conversation, but not all of it," he grinned in satisfaction.

"Don't think you're so clever, Sirius! Why were you spying on me?"

"Well, I was waiting for Remus to finish tutoring you, which must have been torture for him, when Aunt Cassidy arrived. I had to say hello, and so I did. Of course, that's where _Snivellus_ came in."

"And you listened to our conversation?!" Mina was angry now.

"Part of it, yes I did."

"What part?"

"Something about you agreeing to go to the dance with Snape."

"But nothing about Remus?" Sirius looked confused.

"What about Remus?"

"Nothing! We weren't talking about Remus at all."

"…Okay."

"Well, er, speaking of… do you know where Remus went?"

"Common Room." Without saying a word, Mina turned and headed to the portrait of the fat lady.

"Now… what was the password? Maybe I'll just wait here until a Gryffindor comes by." Indeed, a Gryffindor did come out of the common room. It was a 1st year boy, not anybody she knew by name, and she asked him to let her in.

"You're a Slytherin. You don't belong in here," he said. Mina frowned.

"Well, have you seen Remus Lupin? He's a prefect."

"I know who he is. He's inside," the boy replied.

"Well, can you tell him someone would like to talk to him?"

"I'm not your personal messenger!"

"I'll give you a sickle."

"No."

"Fine! How about I give you a detention instead? Would you like that?"

"Who do you think you are?" With that, the kid walked off.

Mina sighed. She was shown absolutely no respect. Luckily, Lily walked out of the portrait hole.

"Mina! There you are!"

"Lil! Thank God. Let me in?"

"Sure." She let Mina in the common room. Mina spotted Remus lounging on a sofa with Potter and Pettigrew. She walked by them, hoping to give him a hint. His eyes followed her, but he didn't speak.

"Hey! Who let you in again? Oh, I see, Lily did this, didn't she?" James said. Lily stood next to her friend.

"You have a problem with it?" she asked.

"No. Just teasing," he replied. Remus sighed. He stood up and brushed past Mina, as if telling her to follow him, which she did. When they were free of prying eyes, Mina opened her mouth to speak. Remus hushed her.

"Let me speak first," he said, "I want to know why you did that."

"Well, my mother is very strict as you know, and-"

"And it was okay to tell her you were going with Snape? Is there something wrong with me? Is there?"

"What? Why would there be-"

"Well there must be something wrong with me that you have to tell your mother you're dating Severus Snape!"

"Remus, you don't understand! You wouldn't, though. There's something about my life that you don't know." Lupin laughed.

"Same here. So, if I tell you my secret, will you tell me yours?"

"I-I… fine," Mina took Remus' hands and looked him straight in the eyes, "Well, ere, you see, Remus, my parents…"

"No, wait. I'll tell you my secret first. You really need to know. Something happens to me… once a month, and-"

"Mina," Lily entered the room. Remus pulled away from Mina.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you two were… having a moment. I'll go," Lily said. She left the room.

"What did you want to tell me, Remus?" Mina asked. He looked at her, but he wasn't smiling.

"I don't think we should see each other any more," he said. Mina's heart sank.

"Sure," she turned quickly, not letting him see the tear in her eye, and left the room.

**Sorry to leave it on such a sad note! But it had to be done. Well, Happy Christmahanukwanzikkah, everybody!**

**To the faithful:**

**Blackdragonofdeath13: thanks! Keep reading.**

**Kayhera: even if the romance was too soon, would you agree with me that this chapter is a good twist? Oh, and…. Chocolate kicks butt!**

**PaulC: well, I read your story (most of it; I'll finish it as soon as I can) and I hope you like this chapter.**

**Rocker-chick101: thanks! Please keep reading.**

**Bookluva629: I like to review too, and I love having conversations with my reviewers. Hm… er, what's your favorite color? (don't answer that… . ) I hope you liked this chapter.**


	10. Dances With Wolves

**Okay, okay. I'm a bad, bad girl! I haven't updated in, what, two months? I'm terribly sorry. But now that '_Sometimes When We Touch' _(my other fic) is over, I'm only writing two stories at a time. It'll be much less stressful. Okay, so here's Chapter 10:**

Mina and Lily went up to Lily's room, where Mina let the tears spill out.

"OHGOD. What happened?" Lily asked.

"It's over, Lily," Mina sobbed.

"What happened?"

"We were talking, and he was about to tell me something… but, I don't know, he just told me we couldn't see each other anymore."

"Why?"

"I don't know, but…" she wiped her eyes, "we weren't together for very long, you know, and… he probably got the idea that maybe I didn't really like him, and… well, I never got the chance to prove to him that I really did care about him. Now I never will."

"Why don't you tell him that? He'll believe you!"

"Maybe he won't."

"Wait, I thought he was the one who asked you out!"

"True… but, he was probably just lonely… and maybe he thought it was a good opportunity, and… maybe he wasn't being serious," said Mina. She rubbed her eyes really hard, until they became red.

"Mina! Stop doing that! Use a tissue, or a handkerchief, or something!"

"I'm sorry," Mina apologized.

"Anyway, Remus had to have been serious. I mean, he did kiss you, didn't he?"

"A kiss can mean nothing or everything, and I don't know what his kisses meant," said Mina.

"Well… are you at least going to go to the dance?"

"Oh. Yes… I did promise Severus that I'd go with him. If my mother had caught me kissing Remus, she'd have killed me- Oh. My. God."

"What?"

"That's it! When Remus was tutoring me, we were, er, snogging, and Sev came in and pulled me away when my mother came in, and… I acted like I didn't even know who Remus was! I even told Mother I was dating Severus!"

"WHAT? Why?"

"My mom wouldn't like Remus… she'd HATE him."

"Why?" Lily questioned.

"My mother just wouldn't find him… suitable for her only child. Well, I guess that doesn't explain much. How should I put this? My mom- and my dad- are deatheaters."

Lily's jaw dropped. Mina knew that the day would come when she would have to tell her best friend the truth, but she didn't think it would be so soon. Now what would she do?

"Lil, I'm sorry I never told you this before, but… well, I couldn't," said Mina.

"That's okay. I understand. But… well, did you tell Remus?"

"I tried to, but I couldn't. You have no idea how hard it is."

"But he'll understand if you told him the truth!"

"I can't risk telling him! He could blackmail me!"

"He's a nice person. He wouldn't do that to you!"

"I- I don't know. I can't do it! I can't talk to him!"

Mina buried her face in her hands and started to cry again- and believe me, she never cries easily. She has too much pride to do that sort of thing. And so, for the next week and a half, she did not speak to anyone, unless it was absolutely necessary. She didn't even talk to Snape, who stayed by her side the entire time.

The day of the dance, however- well, Mina needed Lily's company. You can't just not speak with your best friend because a guy broke up with you.

"Lily… are you going to the dance with Frank?" –her first words since that day. Lily nodded.

"That's great! I'm so happy for you!"

"So happy that you're crying tears of joy?" Lily questioned.

"What?" Mina wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

"You were getting teary-eyed, Mina. Are you sure you still want to go to the dance?"

"Of course. I don't break promises." _Liar._ Mina wasn't exactly the most reliable person. But she wanted to be. She wanted to be that type of person who could be there for others. She wanted to be there for Remus. Instead, she was doing this for Snape.

"Let's go get ready then. I got a new dress; you have to see it!"

"What does it look like?" Mina tried to sound amused.

"It's pink, silky, off-the-shoulders, and knee-length. It's real cute. My parents bought it for me." Mina's dress was a purple, halter, plain, last year's dress.

"Wow." Lily's parents did spoil her. And those muggle outfits they bought for her could be so damn cute. Mina's mom had no fashion sense whatsoever. They would never buy her a fairy tale type of gown- something she always pictured herself in. Something straight out of the storybooks.

The two girls parted ways and headed off towards their own common rooms. When Mina entered her bedroom, the first thing she noticed was a beautiful black gown lying on her bed. It was strapless, and it had a long, ruffled bottom; something straight out of the storybook. Something she had dreamed about wearing one day.

"Carly! Is this your dress?" Mina asked her roommate, who was busy fixing her hair. Apparently she had a date tonight, too.

"Huh? No… it's on your bed. It must be yours," she said.

"It can't be! It's- it's so gorgeous!" It was then that Mina noticed the note lying on top of the gown.

**_Pour le belle_**

"What does this say? It's in French- I don't speak French. I think someone in my family speaks French. But nobody in my family would send me this gown," said Mina.

"Lemme see," said Carly. She took the card, and took out her wand, saying some sort of incantation.

"Here, the language should change to English now," she said. Mina read the card.

**_For the beauty_**

"The beauty? Me? There's no way someone in my family sent this to me…"

"Well then, somebody must really be smitten with you," said Carly.

The dress fit Mina perfectly. It looked great on her, too. The black against her fair skin tone made her face stick out more; her eyes, her hair, her lips- they_ glowed_. She couldn't wait to show Lily. She had to get over to the Gryffindor common room.

Mina flew down the stairs and bumped into Snape. He grabbed her hand and kissed it.

"Mina. You look amazing," he said. Mina blushed.

"Why thank you, Sev…" she then noticed what he was wearing. He had on a grey dressy shirt, black tie, and black pants. His hair was combed- it even looked clean- his face was clean, too, and he was smiling widely.

"Is something wrong?" he asked. Mina realized her jaw was slightly ajar. She shut it tight.

"No."

"Well, are you ready?"

"Oh. Yes, I am. By the way… you look good tonight," she couldn't go without complimenting him.

"Thanks," he leaned in to whisper in her ear, "You look good in black, _belle_."

"You- you sent me this dress!"

"I did," he said.

"But it must have been so expensive, and- you didn't have to do that!"

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course I did. Now, let us go to the dance. You will be the belle of the ball," he said.

"O-okay," Mina let Snape lead her to the Great Hall, where it was surprisingly crowded.

"It looks like the entire school came tonight," said Mina.

"Do you want to dance?" Snape asked.

"I didn't know you could dance," Mina said.

"There are a lot of things you do not know, Mina," Snape said as he swept her into his arms and began to dance with her. There wasn't even any music playing, but they were the first students to dance.

"So, Sev, now that we're here, at this dance, just like you wanted, we're even, aren't we? You saved my life, I went to a dance with you," said Mina.

"Yes, yes, we're even now. But do not talk of such things, my belle, you're ruining the moment…" Snape put his arm around Mina's shoulder and slowly swayed her back and forth.

"Um… okay, Sev, don't get all weird on me, now," said Mina.

"Shh…" He put a finger to her lips, and then kissed it. Mina blushed and pulled back.

"Okay… that was _not_ a part of the deal," she said. Snape shook his head.

"Just shut up," he said.

"Fine! Just don't kiss me!" Mina shouted. A few heads turned in the crowd. She sighed and closed her eyes, laying her head on Snape's shoulder. If he wanted her to be quiet, then she would be quiet. She would give him the silent treatment.

Mina opened her eyes. Had she dozed off? She felt a little lightheaded. Where was she? Okay… she was still at the dance, wasn't she? She was sitting at a table. Ah yes, there was Snape, right next to her.

"Sev, what happened?" she asked innocently.

"I think I bored you to sleep. I'm sorry," he stroked her cheek.

"Oh. That's okay. I'm sorry I fell asleep on you." She looked around and, spotting Lily, got up.

"I'll be right back," she told Snape, and strolled over towards Lily.

"Hey, Lil!"

"Hi, Mina, what's up? How's your date going?"

"Well, I fell asleep on him while we were dancing," said Mina.

"How embarrassing! It's a good thing you don't like him! That'd be even worse!"

"Where's Frank?" Mina asked.

"He's getting me some punch. Hey, did you see Phoebe yet?"

"Nope. It's too crowded in here. I don't think we'll be able to find her."

"Hey guys!" Phoebe just sprang up from behind Mina. Just like that.

"Hey, Phoebs! Did you come here with Sirius?" Lily asked. Phoebe nodded.

"Wow, and I thought he'd have another date by now. But I guess he must really like you, Phoebe. Good luck," said Mina.

"Uh, thanks, I guess. By the way, Mina, did you know that Remus is here?"

"What, really? That's so strange! I thought he didn't like dances! Is he here with a date?" Mina asked.

"No, he's alone. But still, I find it strange that he would come, don't you?" asked Phoebe.

"Yeah."

Frank came back and handed Lily her punch, then asked her to dance with him. Phoebe and Sirius danced as well. There was some classical music playing this time. Why classical music, of all the music in the world, Mina could not guess.

"Mina! What's up?" Mina spun around to see Regulus- wearing a _suit_.

"Regulus? What are you doing here? This dance is for fourth years and above!"

"And my date is a fourth year," he explained.

"Really? Who?"

"Carly." So that's who Carly's date was.

"Regulus, you stud! I didn't know you were dating Carly!"

"We're not dating yet, but I did ask her to the dance. I was surprised she said yes."

"Well good for you. I hope it works out," Mina said sincerely.

"Hey, do you think I can snag a dance with Sirius' date?" Regulus asked. But before Mina had a chance to answer- which she would have said 'no'- he had already cut in on Phoebe and Sirius' dance.

"Regulus, you little!" Sirius tried to go after his little brother, but Regulus had put a hex on him that caused his feet to turn into molasses.

"So, what's you name?" he asked Phoebe.

"Ph-phoebe. Um… just who are you?"

"Regulus Black. But you can call me 'Sexy Daddy,'" he said.

"Hey, Sexy Daddy, get lost!" Mina pulled Regulus away from Phoebe. "Sorry about him, Phoebe. He's a pest, I know. Hey, where's Lily?"

"I don't know," Phoebe shrugged.

Mina looked around the crowded hall. Lily was still dancing with Frank, when Mina saw James go up to them.

"May I cut in?" He asked.

"Sure," said Frank.

"Sure? Frank, you're supposed to say 'back off, buddy, she's my date!'" Lily complained. But it was too late. James already had a hold of Lily. He spun her around, jokingly, until she got dizzy. Then they were both lost in the crowd.

"Lily!" Mina swam through the crowd, trying to find them. "Lily!" A pair of hands grabbed onto her shoulders.

"She's over here," a masculine voice said. Mina recognized that voice. Remus. She couldn't turn around to see him, but he led her to where James and Lily were. Then he was gone.

"Lily, are you okay?" Mina asked.

"I'm a little dizzy, actually," she answered. She was holding on to James with one arm, and rubbing her forehead with the other.

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to make you dizzy," said James.

"Well, you did! Are you and idiot, Potter?" Mina scolded.

"Yes. I'll admit to that. I am sorry, though. Let me take care of it, okay?"

Mina sighed. "Alright." She headed out of the crowd, hoping to find Snape. He was probably wondering to where she had gone off.

"Mina!" Snape's eyes lighted up.

"Hey. Sorry about that," she apologized.

"It's okay. One more dance?" he asked.

"I'm tired, Sev. I'm sorry. Maybe next time?"

"Next time?"

"Yes… if there is a next time."

"I hope there will be. Let me walk you back to the common room," he offered.

They began walking towards the Slytherin common room. Snape had his arm around Mina. Mina was too tired to notice. Or care.

"Good night, Mina. I love you," he said, taking her hand and kissing it once more.

_No you don't, you idiot. You don't know what you're saying_, Mina tried to say, but the words weren't coming out. Why was she suddenly so tired? It was only 8:30. Her eyelids fluttered closed. She felt warm lips on her cheek, and then on her lips. Her body was being lifted up. Severus was laying her down on the couch in the common room. She had fallen asleep.

**Ah… short, isn't it? Too short for a lot of your tastes. But not mine! I like to keep the suspense going! Not sure what I have planned yet for the next chapter, so be prepared for at least a month before I update. I'm terribly sorry, but that's how it must be.**

**-Also, I'm really sorry that the chapter title had nothing to do with the chapter- i don't know if any of you were disappointed about that or not...**

**To the faithful:**

**Dan-Radcliffes-girl: thanks. I take it you're a Dan Radcliffe fan obviously… but Harry's not necessarily in this fic. Who's your favorite character in this story?**

**PaulC: do you have me on your author alert list? That way, every time you log on, you'll know if I've updated or not. And- I never really finished reading your story! I'm going to have to do that. I have a week off of school, so I'll have some time to catch up on everything in the fanfiction world.**

**Light Sorceress: thankyou so mcuh. ;) Please keep reading!**

**LupinLover99: so… you didn't get to finish reading it then? Bummer.. I can see you like lupin a lot. A lot of people seemed o be disappointed in the way I portrayed Lupin, and to be honest, I'm a little disappointed in myself. I rushed through the first couple of chapters. I also sort of rushed through Mina and Lupin's relationship, and so that is why they are teking a break.**

**Rocker-chick101: well, you might not like this chapter if you don't like Snape. He seems to be getting what he wants from Mina… and now especially since Remus broke up with her. Tell me what you think, though!**

**Demoness13: Gracias! Thanks, (I don't know why I'm speaking Spanish all of a sudden)**

**Kayhera: Are you a marauders fan, too? Not a Snape fan, though, it would seem. But he keeps the story interesting, wouldn't you agree? **

**Potterpunkchick: merry christmas to you too! Wait, yeah, it's february, isn't it? Hehe.. thanks for reviewing!**

**Mehgan: Yes, Remus is almost perfect, it would seem. But there's a lot more to this story that fits in with his "once a month" transformation.**

**Schnebz: Yes, Mina is, er, special. That's what her parents told her, too. Hehe… thanks for reviewing! **

**Crazayladay: are you really crazy? Hmm… hehe, don't worry about Remus. He has issues. And they will all be worked out soon enough.**

**Keep on reading and reviewing, guys! I appreciate it!**

**-Mina**


	11. Feelings for a friend

**Another Chapter! Yay for me! I'm making progress, I think. I love this story, but I'm not sure if I even know where it is going. Don't worry, of course I know where it's going. But every once in a while I think about going back and changing something that I didn't like. But it's too late for those things.**

**Chapter 11**

"He kissed me."

Mina's eyes searched for some sign of falseness in Lily's face. But she only saw sincerity in those emerald eyes.

"When? Where? How?" Mina asked. They were sitting by the lake with Phoebe at lunchtime.

"When James cut in on my dance, and we got lost in the crowd. I was too dizzy to realize what was happening. He just kissed me," Lily said.

"On the lips?" Phoebe asked.

"On the cheek," Lily said.

"Oh," Phoebe replied.

"Anyway, even if it was only on the cheek, it's still more action than I got with Frank," Lily sighed.

"Hey, at least you didn't get kissed by _Snape_ on the _lips_ when you were half _asleep_," Mina said.

"What? He kissed you!"

"Yeah… That's the last thing I remember before I fell asleep on the common room couch," said Mina.

"Hey, that's not so bad. At least it wasn't your first kiss," said Lily.

"Oh my gosh!" Phoebe exclaimed.

"No way! Lily, that was your first kiss? You're kidding me!" Mina almost laughed.

"Go ahead and laugh, Mina. I don't care. You've dated more than one guy before, and you've kissed guys before. But not me. Not everyone has that luxury, you know," said Lily.

"I'm sorry, Lil. And here I am, moping over Remus Lupin," Mina apologized.

"What about Remus Lupin?" James had overheard Mina as he passed by. Okay, actually, he was following Lily, not passing by.

"Stop stalking me," Lily replied.

"Stalking? So quick to jump to accusations, aren't we, Evans?" James defended himself.

"Well, what are you doing here?" Lily asked.

"Stalking you," he grinned as he put an arm around her. She shrugged it off.

"We were having a private conversation here, Potter. Please leave," Mina said.

"I'm leaving," he said, and then he did leave.

"Isn't that slightly creepy to you?" Phoebe asked.

"Of course it is. But I'm used to it. Just pray that it stops soon," said Lily.

"I wouldn't worry for long. He's going to get over you soon, Lily," Mina reassured.

"I don't know, Mina. He's been after me for almost two years now," Lily frowned.

"Oh ye of little faithe," Mina said, "Hey, do you think Snape will leave me alone, too?"

"Snape? Are you kidding me?" Phoebe said.

"You never know," said Lily.

"True."

"Phoebs, you never told us what happened with Sirius," Lily said.

"Oh. Well, the bell's about to ring, so I'll tell you in class," Phoebe said.

"Oh, stop it! You're ignoring that question for a reason, aren't you?" Mina accused.

The bell rang, declaring it time for the next class, which meant Potions for Slytherins and Gryffindors.

"Sorry, but I've got to get to the Astronomy tower," Phoebe said, grabbing her books and running off. Mina and Lily did the same, heading for the Dungeons.

They filed into the classroom, where they sat next to each other at a table. The table next to theirs was occupied by the 'Marauders'.

Mina stared at Remus, not realizing it, until the bell rang for class to begin. The teacher now grabbed everyone's attention.

"Good afternoon, class. I have just spoken to Professor Dumbledore about going on a class field trip in November, and he thinks it would be a good idea. We will be going to a potions factory in Hogsmeade on the 17th. The owner of this factory, Dr. Julian Gray is actually the father of your classmate, Mina Gray," as the teacher said this, Mina sunk down in her chair, "You all need to sign permission slips." With a wave of his wand, permission slips flew off of his desk, and landed onto each of the students' tables.

"Professor, where's my permission slip?" Mina asked, seeing as she was the only student without one.

"Oh, Mina, I already spoke with your father, and he signed your permission slip for you," the teacher replied. Mina rested her head in her hands.

"Mina, what's wrong?" Lily nudged her.

"Nothing. I just don't want to go to my father's factory," she answered.

"Well why not? Don't you want to see your father?" Mina hesitated.

"No, I don't."

"Is this because of the, er," Lily lowered her voice to a whisper, "_deatheater _thing?"

"What? No... That's not it. It's... Well, it's embarrassing, really."

"Oh, come on, Mina! Embarrassing? It's your dad. It can't be that bad," said Lily.

"I just don't want everybody to meet him. But, I guess it's not worse than having everybody meet my mom. That would be a disaster," said Mina.

"Especially after what happened when Remus met your mom," Lily added.

"Oh, don't bring that up again," Mina said.

"Sorry. But promise me that you'll come on the field trip. Please," Lily pleaded.

"Okay, okay, I'll go."

"Good."

* * *

The next Friday, Mina had her tutoring session with Remus in the library. She didn't know what she should say to him. She wasn't sure if she should say anything at all. Lily told her she should talk to him, or at least try to talk to him. Lily had said, "Why should you be the unhappy one?" She was right. And so Mina did talk to him.

"So do you understand chapter 4?" Remus asked.

"Huh? Oh... yes. Remus, can we talk?"

"Are you sure you understand it?" Remus ignored her.

"Yes! We really need to talk," she said.

Remus sighed and looked at her.

"Alright, we'll talk. What is it?" He said.

"Well... What do you think it is?" Suddenly Mina felt very angry. And well, why shouldn't she be angry?

"Oh. _That_," Remus looked away, "I guess we should clear some things up."

"Yes, we should. I've been so upset this past week, you know, and..."

"I'm sorry," said Remus, "and the feeling is mutual. I'm upset at myself for letting a good thing go. But... the truth is, I don't deserve you, Mina. That's why I broke up with you."

"What? But, Remus, _I_ don't deserve _you_! You're such a nice guy! And guys like you only come around once in a lifetime!"

"I wish I could say the same for you, Mina. You see, when I first asked you out, I just did it because I was jealous of Sirius. He was always popular with girls, and I thought if I went out with you, I could be more like him. But I felt so guilty... I started to really like you, Mina. And I couldn't stay with you, so I broke up with you," Remus confessed.

"You wanted to be like Sirius? That's ridiculous! Why would you- oh, nevermind. The important thing is, you were honest with me. But I'm the guilty one. When we were going out, I didn't want anybody to know about it. I wanted to keep you a secret from my friends and family. That was selfish of me," Mina said.

"Wow. I didn't even think about that. You know, I think we're both guilty. We were just using each other. We didn't _really_ like each other, did we?" Remus asked.

"No... I suppose not," Mina said. _But I _do _like you, Remus. I just can't tell you._

"Can we be friends, then?" Remus held out his hand with a big smile on his face.

"Okay," Mina shook his hand. _Maybe things are better this way. _She smiled back at him.

"Now, are you _sure_ you understand the chapter?" Remus asked.

"I told you, yes!"

"I was just kidding, Mina!"

"Oh. Well... where has that sense of humor been hiding all this time?" she laughed. Remus laughed, too. _Mina, _he thought, _I love you, but I can't tell you._

* * *

"What are you so happy about?" Lily asked when she saw Mina that night.

"It's the weekend. Why wouldn't I be happy?" Mina said.

"Something definitely happened. You talked to Remus, didn't you? I told you it would work!"

"Yes, okay, I admit you were right. Let's go sit by the lake and I'll tell you all about it," Mina said.

"Okay." They went out by the lake, where they found Phoebe sitting by herself.

"Hey! Phoebe, you've been ignoring us for the past week!" Lily said.

"Huh? Oh... yeah, about that..." Phoebe began to get up.

"No! Sit down!" Mina said. She didn't listen.

"We'll give you detention if you don't sit down!" Lily threatened.

"That's abusing privilege!" Phoebe said.

"Phoebe! We're your best friends! Why can't you tell us what happened at that dance?" Mina asked.

"Because... I don't know. I felt bad since the both of you had a terrible time, and," Phoebe said, "I had the best time of my life!"

"What? Really? What happened?" Mina and Lily wanted to know.

"Well, I too got kissed. By Sirius, of course. And... we've been hanging out a lot... and I really like him, and..."

"So, are you going out?" Lily asked.

"I don't know. He hasn't asked me yet," said Phoebe.

"Well, if he breaks your heart, I'll pummel him for you, okay?" Mina said.

"You know, Phoebe, you could have told us this before," said Lily.

"You're right. I wanted to keep it a secret, but that's stupid," said Phoebe.

"It is stupid," said Mina, "Especially considering that that's how Remus and I broke up."

"Oh yeah, you were going to tell us what happened. So?" Lily said. Mina explained how her and Remus' conversation went, and how they're just friends, even though she still likes him.

"So you're content with just being friends with Remus?" Lily asked.

"Yes," Mina replied.

"I knew it!" James Potter seemed to pop up from out of nowhere.

"James! Stop following me!" Lily screamed.

"But Evans, I wasn't following you! I was just listening in on your conversation!"

"Potter, go away!" Mina said.

"Why should I? We're all friends here, right? You said it yourself: you and Remus are friends. I knew something was up since I kept seeing him stare at you all the time," said James.

"What? He stares at me? Since when?" Mina found herself turning red.

"Theses past few days he hasn't been able to keep his eyes off of you. He's like a lovestruck fool," said James.

"Really? Ohmygosh…"

"Well, it's been a nice chat, but I've got to go…" He turned to leave.

"Potter, wait. Did Remus say anything about me?" Mina asked. James smiled.

"No, but he doesn't need to say anything to prove that he's crazy about you. Now, if you'll excuse me…" He went to leave.

"Potter, wait," Mina said.

"What is it now?"

"Thanks," Mina said.

"No problem." He left.

There was silence for a while, until Phoebe said, "That James Potter is a nice guy, if you look past all the joking and pranks."

"Whatever. I still think he's a big git," said Lily.

"Mina!" Mina looked up towards the castle, where Severus was calling her.

"Oh god, it's the biggest git of all," Mina said, "I'll be right back, guys." She followed Snape into the castle. He didn't look very pleased.

"Mina, do you remember when the field trip to Hogsmeade is?" he asked.

"Yes… wasn't it on the 17th?" Mina said.

"Well, that's the same day the Dark Lord plans to attack Hogsmeade!" he said.

"Oh my gosh. Does Dumbledore know about this?" Mina asked.

"Not yet. I wanted you to know first, because… I think your father might have something to do with this. He knows the trip and the attack are on the same day!"

"Oh my gosh. How could he do this?" Mina held her hand to her stomach, feeling sick.

"The question is, does he plan to take any students' lives? And I know that's what the Dark Lord has planned. So we have to make sure that trip is cancelled. I'm going to tell Dumbledore."

"No! Don't do that. I don't want to cancel this trip. I want to confront my father about this. He would never put my life in danger," Mina said.

"Of course he wouldn't put _your_ life in danger. The Dark Lord wouldn't do that either. Mina, you are a pureblood wizard. The death eaters are going to attack the muggleborns," said Snape.

"No! What about Lily? She's my best friend! No… I have to confront my father about this. He wouldn't do this. I have to get him to stop the Dark Lord," Mina said.

"You think he's going to listen?"

"He has to listen. I'm his only child. But… for my mother, that's a different story. She never listens to me. She's so hardhearted. So, I have to try and talk my father out of this," Mina said.

"But even if your father does listen to you, what about the other deatheaters, and you mother? They're not going to defy the Dark Lord. How will you stop them?"

"I can't. But we can. You and I, and whoever will join us, are going to fight Voldemort's deatheaters!"

"You sound so confident. You don't expect this to work, do you? And what do you mean by, 'whoever will join us?'"

"I mean, we're going to warn all the students, and we'll form a team of young wizards to fight," said Mina. Snape shook his head.

"That will never work. I'm going to tell Dumbledore," said Snape.

"Don't! He'll cancel the trip!"

"He's going to find out sooner or later," said Snape.

"Fine. Tell him. But if he cancels the trip, I'm going to go with you to Hogsmeade," said Mina.

"You can't! It's too dangerous!"

"I don't care. I'm going, and you can't stop me!" Mina shouted. She walked away from him, angry, and returned to the lake.

"What did Snape want to talk to you about?" Phoebe asked.

"Nothing," Mina replied.

"So what do you guys want to do this weekend?" Lily asked.

"Oh, I have plans," said Phoebe.

"Oh? With who? Sirius?" Lily asked.

"Yup."

"Don't waste your time," said Mina.

"Hey, at least I'm not spending my time with Snape," said Phoebe.

"I don't spend my time with Snape! I try to avoid him, in fact," said Mina.

"Just like you avoid Remus?"

"I do not! I see Remus every Friday," said Mina.

"Oh, right, for tutoring. By the way, how is that going? You know, tutoring is a great way to get closer to someone," said Phoebe.

"Oh, shut up! For your information, Remus and I are getting a lot closer," Mina declared.

"No you're not! All you two ever do is sit around, staring at each other, but yet you never speak to each other!"

"That is not true!"

"Phoebe's right, Mina. You do stare at Remus a lot. And you love him, but you won't admit it to him. I think he feels the same way, since James mentioned it," said Lily.

"Really? No… that can't be. He said he didn't like me."

"And you told him that you didn't like him! So you both lied! You love each other!"

"I wouldn't say 'love'…" Mina said.

"You do love him! Admit it!"

"So… how's the weather?" Mina asked.

"Don't change the subject!" Phoebe and Lily both said.

"I can if I want to!" Mina said. She took out her wand and pointed it at them, muttering a jinx.

"Hey!" What'd you do that for?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah, and… what exactly did that do?" Lily added. She and Phoebe then looked at each other.

"Oh my gosh!" They both said.

People walking by began to point and laugh at them. Lily took a mirror out of her bag and examined herself.

"My nose! It's huge! Mina, fix it!"

"Let me see that," Phoebe took the mirror out of Lily's hands and looked at herself.

"Mina! Fix my nose!" she said.

"No way, you guys! This is too funny!" said Mina, laughing, "Wait here a minute. I'll be right back." She ran into the castle and came out a few minutes later with the Marauders.

Sirius, James, and Peter all began laughing their asses off. Remus just shook his head.

"Mina!" Phoebe shouted at her, embarrassed to be seen like that in front of Sirius.

"Stop laughing!" Lily shouted at the Marauders. They all stopped laughing, except for James.

"James, stop it!" Lily said. She pulled out her wand at cursed him so that his mouth would stay shut. He stopped laughing and tried to speak, but his mouth would not open.

"Mmmnnnnnnn!" was all he could say.

"That's enough," said Remus, "I can put you all in detention for this."

"Remus, come on, live a little," said Mina.

"Mina, just fix Lily and Phoebe's noses," he said.

"Fine." She unjinxed Lily and Phoebe.

"That's better," said Remus.

"You're no fun, you know that?"

"Yes I am. That's just not my idea of fun."

"Come on, Moony! You're a Marauder! That sort of thing is what Marauders do for fun," said Sirius.

"For once, I have to agree with Sirius," Mina said.

"Mmmmnnnnnnnn!" James said.

"Oh, right," Lily unjinxed James.

"Yes, well, like I was trying to say, Sirius is right," he said.

"Okay. Why is everybody mad at me? What did I do?" Remus defended himself.

"Nothing," Mina sighed.

"Let's go, mates," Sirius said. The Marauders left, but Remus stayed behind.

"Hey, Moony! Come on!" Sirius called.

"I want to talk to Mina, if you don't mind," Remus said.

"Why?"

"Haven't you heard? They're _friends_ now," said James.

"You're kidding me. Remus, why would you want to hang out with my loser-for-a-cousin?"

"She's not a loser! She's a nice person if you get to know her," said Remus.

"Whatever." Sirius left.

"Thanks, Remus, for defending me," Mina said.

"Well, I meant what I said. And Sirius is a nice person too. So you should think about treating him with a little more respect," said Remus.

"I've tried that already, but Sirius and I are almost like rivals. There's no way we can get along with each other," said Mina.

"Nobody's asking you to do that," Remus said.

"I know… so, did you want to talk to me about something?"

"Oh… Well, I was talking to James before, and… Well, I know he can make up stories sometimes, but… He said that you still liked me. Is it true?"

'What? I thought we were just going to be friends from now on…"

"We are. But I just want to know if you have any feelings for me. It's okay to be honest about it. I don't care. Just tell me," Remus said.

"I…" Mina hesitated. She couldn't tell Remus the truth. She was too afraid to be heartbroken again…

"No. I don't," she said.

**Well, it turned out okay. The next chapter will be longer, and I shall work very hard on it. Until then, **

**FullMoon-Insanity**


	12. Night of the full moon, pt 1

**I decided to change things up a bit. This chapter is from Mina's point of view. Please let me know if u do not like it, because I will change it back to the way it was if you want. It's up to you guys. Or, if you want, tell me if I should do POVs for the other characters as well. I'm not promising anything, but, well,we'll see.  
CHAPTER 12!

* * *

**

Mina's POV

_Friday, November the 10th _

Just a week until the trip to Hogsmeade.

Just a week until Mom and Dad and the other deatheaters… including Severus… attack Hogsmeade under Lord Voldemort's commands. And I will confront my father… I must. The only reason he became a deatheater is because Mom became one first. Mom's always been a manipulative person…. She says I am too, I just choose not to manipulate people. It makes me shudder… to think that I inherited anything from my mother besides good looks.

What am I doing? I guess I'm thinking about what's going to happen in one week, right? Or am I just trying to avoid thinking about _him_? Maybe that's it. I'm such a loser. I can't go two minutes without thinking about him. I love him. He's… different than anybody I've ever known. He's so charming, and yet so… distant. I feel like he's beyond my reach right now. Then again, he _is_ beyond my reach, because I told him I didn't have any feelings for him when I really do. Why did I do that? Is it because I'm distant too? Am I deliberately pushing him away because of my parents?

Remus Lupin… I can't push you away forever. I love you.

"A sickle for your thoughts?" Came Snape's voice from behind me. I turned around to look at him. He was standing behind the couch I was sitting on in the Slytherin common room. He was staring at me and grinning in a repulsive way.

"Make that a galleon, and it's a deal," I said.

"Okay," he said. And then he actually reached into his pocket and took out a galleon.

"Um… That's okay, Sev. I'll take the galleon, though," I joked, "But I don't really feel like talking about it." He put the galleon away.

"Sorry to hear that," he said, trying to sound concerned. He sat down next to me and looked me in the eyes.

"Please, Mina… tell me what's on your mind. I'm here for you," he said. I just blinked at him. How could he be here for me? He doesn't understand what I'm going through. I'm not going to tell him.

"You wouldn't understand," I said.

"Does it have anything to do with the trip?"

"No! Of course not… I'm not thinking about that now, Sev. You… you didn't tell Dumbledore yet, did you?" I asked out of curiosity… and fear.

"No. He didn't figure it out, either." I sighed in relief and put my hand to my forehead.

"Sev, what am I going to do? I can't save the muggleborns if the deatheaters attack them," I said. Snape raised a brow.

"You realize this now, huh?"

"I'm no hero. I can't save anybody…" I said.

"You can save your father," Snape said. I looked at him. He was being serious.

"What do you mean?"

"You can save him. He's not a bad person. You can convince him not to do this," Snape replied.

"I know that…. That was the idea. But there are so many other death eaters … I'll admit, I need help," I said. Snape grinned.

"I knew you'd come to your senses sooner or later," he said.

"What?"

"You need _my_ help, Mina. You said you weren't a hero. Well, I'll be your hero," he said.

"You _are_ joking, right?" I asked.

"I'm serious! I'm going to protect you and the other students! You'll realize how much I care about you!"

"Sev, I already know that you care for me," I said.

"No. I love you, Mina," he said. I sighed. When will this end? You don't love me really, Sev. You can't. You're lying to yourself.

"Whatever," I said.

"Stop it!" He pulled me towards him and kissed me. On the lips. _Again_.

Ugh... how revolting!

"No! Severus, stop!" I pulled away from his grasp and stood up.

"I'm sorry," was his reply.

"I have to go," I said.

"Mina!" he called after me. I ignored him and left to go see Lily.

That's when I got a good idea. I would simply tell Lily about the attack on Hogsmeade. Maybe she'd stay at Hogwarts so that she couldn't get hurt.

"Lily! I need to tell you something" I said when I saw her in the Gryffindor Common room.

"Me too!" she said.

"Okay, you first."

"No, you go."

"I insist," I said.

"Okay. Phoebe's going to go out with your cousin!" she exclaimed.

"You're kidding me…." I said unenthusiastically.

"Yeah… She and Sirius really like each other now, so they decided to go out," Lily said.

"I guess that's good news…"

"What did you want to say?" she asked.

"Oh… It's um, something very serious. Lily…" I lowered my voice so nobody could hear, "During the Hogsmeade trip, Voldemort and his deatheaters are going to attack. I think it's best if you didn't go."

"Oh, come on, Mina! You're just saying that because you didn't want to go on that trip!" Lily said.

"No, Lil, I'm serious!"

"Mina stop it!" she said. Lily, why can't you take me seriously? Especially at a crucial time like this!

"Lily…" I said.

"Hey, Mina, don't worry about the trip. It'll be fine. Oh, I almost forgot! I have to go to the library to find a book for Muggle Studies. I'll see you at dinner, okay? Bye!"

"Wait!" She left. She just left. Lily, you are such an idiot! This is important!

I slumped down onto a couch and placed a hand over my eyes. How could she do that to me? Didn't she realize I was being serious? Maybe if I tell Phoebe…. No. Forget it. I don't want to talk to anybody right now.

And then I heard his warm, comforting voice, calling my name.

"Mina, is something wrong?"

No, I wasn't going to pour my problems onto Remus. He didn't need to know what was going on. I just smiled at him.

"No. I'm fine," I said.

"Okay. So… what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Hm? Oh, Lily was here just a second ago. I was talking to her. …I should go back to my own common room," I said.

"No, please stay," he said, "You can talk to me if you'd like." I hesitated.

"Okay. Thank you," I said.

"So, um, do you think we can skip tutoring today?"

"Oh? I guess that's fine with me," I said.

"Good. So… I guess we're going to meet your father on this coming trip," he said.

"Oh. Yes, I guess so," I said.

"Is he as bad as your mum?"

"No way! My dad's the best. Really, he is. But… that doesn't mean I want everyone to meet him," I said.

"Why not?" he asked.

"I… don't know," I answered truthfully. Because the thing is, I don't know why I didn't want anybody to meet Dad. He _is_ a good person, like Severus pointed out. And I love him… even though we don't talk as much as we did before he became a deatheater.

"So what exactly does your father's factory do?" he asked. Of all the things we could talk about, why were we talking about my family?

"They make and sell pre-made potions," I explained.

"That's convenient," he said.

"It is."

"I can't wait to go," he said. I sighed.

That's when it occurred to me. Remus might not be a pureblood. He could get killed!

"Remus, are you a pureblood wizard?" I asked him. He looked at me.

"No, I'm a halfblood. Why?" he asked. I felt my heart sink.

"Oh, just wondering," I replied.

"You know, Mina, you don't really seem too fond of this class trip," he said.

"Well," I hesitated, "that's because I'm not." Well, it's the truth, isn't it?

"Why not? What's the worst thing that could happen?" he asked. I hesitated. What am I supposed to say to him? How would he react if I told him the truth? No, I can't tell him the truth. I can't!

"Remus, if I told you that," I felt my eyes begin to water, "I don't know what you'd think of me!"

"Mina, I like you. Nothing you say could make me think any differently of you," he said with a smile. I wouldn't be so sure of that.

I wiped my eyes and blinked at him. He was really concerned about me…just like Severus.

"Okay," I said, "now I'm not going to tell you all of the details, but you have to promise take me seriously."

"Okay…"

"Okay. It's not going to be safe at Hogsmeade," I said.

"Not safe? How…?"

"I can't explain, exactly. But… your life may be in danger," I said. He laughed. He actualy laughed!

"Well, whatever it may be, the Marauders and I will take care of it," he said with confidence. Remus Lupin, you idiot!

"I'm serious," I said.

"Mina," he said, putting a hand on my shoulder, "I can take of myself, you know. I don't want you to worry about me."

"Do you promise you'll be okay?" I asked. He smiled and rubbed my shoulder.

"Of course." I felt an unwanted tear slip down my cheek. But then the most wonderful thing happened. Remus moved his arm around my back and pulled me towards him. He hugged me! How I've missed having his arms around me!

And then he whispered in my ear, "Everything will be alright." Before I knew it he had pulled away, gotten up, and left.

I wanted to thank him, but I never got the chance. He took me seriously, unlike Lily. I knew I could depend on him.

I got up to leave the Gryffindor common room, but checked the time first. It was almost dinnertime. I headed down to the library hoping to find Lily again. Maybe I could again try talking her out of going on that trip.

Lily was not at the library. She must have gone down to dinner already. I made my way to the great hall and, sure enough, there she was at the Gryffindor table. The Marauders were nowhere in sight. Where could they be? Oh well, it's still early for dinner. They'll show up.

I sat down next to Lily and she smiled at me. What is she up to?

"I saw you talking to Remus," she said.

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. So that's it.

"How are things going with you two?" she asked.

"Okay. Better than before, I guess. He… hugged me," I said.

"Really? That's awesome!"

"I was in his arms for just two seconds… but while I was there I was secretly hoping he would kiss me… the way he used to kiss me," I said.

"Aw… you poor thing! But didn't James say Remus liked you? So you two like each other still?" Lily asked.

"Well, yes. That is true. But he doesn't know that I like him. In fact, I told him that I didn't have any feelings for him," I explained.

"Why? Mina, you completely blew it! That was your chance!" she said.

"Lily, it's too soon! I'm not sure I'm ready!" I said.

"Okay. But you should talk to him at every chance you get," she advised.

"Okay," I said.

"Like at dinner tonight. When he comes in, say hi."

"Okay, I got it! I know how to do this," I said.

"Good," she said.

Remus never came to dinner that night, though. Neither did the other Marauders. I wonder where they were…

That night Lily, Phoebe and I sat out by the lake, talking. It was beautiful out; the sky a clear midnight blue, a pool full of stars. The moon was full and gorgeous as ever.

"So, Mina, when does the quidditch season begin? It's already November…"

"On the 20th, which is a Monday. That's when the first practice is, for Slytherin at least. You know, I usually get excited about quidditch coming up. But I feel so… depressed now," I said. Why am I so depressed, anyway? What's wrong with me?

"Probably because of all that happened with you and Remus," Phoebe said. Oh. That's probably it, isn't it? Stupid me, letting a guy take away my love for quidditch. Oh, it's not that I don't love quidditch any more, I just lack the excitement for it.

"But don't let it get to you," Lily encouraged, "you're still an amazing quidditch player. Better than James, at least."

"Yeah, I am, aren't I?" I said confidently. Because I knew I could kick Potter's ass, and I have done it plenty of times before.

I looked up at the full moon, in all of its glory, shining brilliantly down on us.

"It's so gorgeous, isn't it?" I asked them.

"What? The moon? Yeah…" said Lily.

"Definitely," Phoebe agreed.

"I wish Sirius was here," Phoebe sighed. I laughed.

"Oh, please," I said, "I can't imagine what he'd be doing right now. Most likely making a fool of himself."

"I wonder where they are," Lily said, "the Marauders, I mean."

"Who knows. They're all idiots. Who cares," I said.

"What about Remus?" Phoebe asked.

"The biggest idiot of them all," I said, sighing, "and, of course, I always fall in love with idiots."

"No way. Mina, this is the first guy you've dated who was in Gryffindor, and the first guy who was a decent person, not a fool," Lily said.

"After all, he is a prefect," Phoebe reminded me.

"Well, that is true." Which makes me a decent person too, right? Although I lose track of doing my prefect duties… when is it my turn to patrol again? The 10th… "Oh! What time is it?" I asked.

"It's almost past curfew, we should go back inside…" said Lily.

"I have prefect duties tonight, I totally forgot," I said.

"You always forget," said Lily, "but it doesn't matter, since nobody ever wanders out past curfew."

"How do you know?" Phoebe asked.

"We just know," I said. It was true. The prefects had to patrol the castle every now and then until 11 pm to make sure nobody's sneaking around, but none of the prefects ever really did it. Most of them would walk around until 10, then just go to sleep.

"I don't feel like going back to my common room, actually. I feel a little restless. Do you mind if I walk around with you?" Lily asked.

"Why not. Phoebs, how about you?" I invited.

"That's okay. I think I should call it a day. I'll see you guys tomorrow," Phoebe said.

"Bye." She went back inside and Lily and I got up.

"So… why don't we just walk around out here?" Lily asked.

"What?"

"It's so nice out tonight," she said, smiling. Her green eyes glistened in the moonlight. God, I wish my eyes could do that!

"Okay," I said, returning her smile.

We walked around the lake once and then over by the Forbidden Forest.

"Let's go in!" Lily said excitedly.

"Lily, are you crazy? What's gotten into you tonight?"

"Come on, Mina, I want to have some fun!" she said.

"You know, Lil, it's called the _Forbidden_ Forest for a reason," I reminded her.

"You're just scared," she teased. Maybe she's right.

"That's not true!" I defended myself.

"You'd better believe it, sister, because you're trembling!" she pointed out. I wasn't trembling. I was shivering.

"It's cold," I said.

"What a lame excuse," she joked.

"Fine, okay, we'll go in! But only for just a minute," I said, trying to sound less scared.

We entered the ominous forest, unaware of what dangers awaited us inside.

I lingered at the entrance while Lily kept walking, amazed at the beauty of the forest. Sure, it was scary, but it was also a sight to see. The trees were taller than a giant and the moon peeked out from behind them, illuminating and casting shadows everywhere. Vines crept up the trunks of the trees and little white flowers sprang up around the tree roots. Something scattered across the ground near Lily. She shrieked. It was a rabbit.

I couldn't help but giggle at Lily's jumpiness. She was just as scared as I was.

"Who's scared, now?" I teased.

"Oh, be quiet! I'm not in the least bit afraid," she said. Just then, something howled.

"What was that?" she asked.

"You know what it was," I said.

"A w-wolf?" she said. I shook my head.

"Not a wolf, Lily. You saw the full moon, didn't you? It was a _werewolf_," I said.

"We should get out of here!" she said. I looked around, hoping not to see the source of the howl we heard. It was hard to see anything at all.

"We should," I agreed, looking at her. She walked back towards the entrance and I followed her out of the forest.

"Do you know what this means?" I asked her.

"What?" she looked at me, trying to figure me out.

"We have a werewolf at Hogwarts!" I said.

"You're right! I wonder who it is? A teacher, or a student?"

"Maybe it's Dumbledore!" I said, joking.

"Oh yeah, right. Hey, maybe it's Snape!" she said, laughing. I laughed, too.

"Of course, maybe it isn't somebody in Hogwarts. Maybe it's a spy!" she said.

"Why would somebody send a werewolf to spy on Hogwarts?" I asked.

"Who knows?" she said. I laughed.

"Well, we'd better be careful on nights of the full moon," I said. She nodded. Then I heard it. Another howl. Lily grabbed my hand so tight I thought it might fall off.

"Relax," I said, glancing at the forest, "It's in the forest. It can't harm us." But I was wrong. For just then, a huge wolf sprang out of the forest, headed right towards me!

* * *

**It's a cliffhanger! Surprised you, didn't I? Oh, really? Then Review and tell me what you thought! **

**-Much Luv, MINA**


	13. Night of the full moon, pt 2

**HBP is here! Unfortunately, I only read the first 7 chapters, so I'm going to finish it before I update my other stories.  
So anyway… I got mixed opinions about the POVs. So for this second part, I'm staying in Mina's POV. Then I'll go back to the way it was for the rest of the fic. **

**Chapter 13

* * *

**

Did I mention I was scared?

You could imagine my surprise as the werewolf jumped out from the forest. It stopped right in front of me, and I just stared at it, taking all of this in. It didn't make any sense at all. The werewolf just came onto the school grounds, out in the open, where I least expected it, and now it was standing before me, not moving a muscle. And I was too terrified to move myself, for fear that the werewolf might jump at me.

I slowly turned my head towards Lily, and she stood, blinking at me. I didn't want to make any noise, so I mouthed the word "run" to her. But she shook her head. She was trembling all over. I was calm. I looked back at the werewolf. It growled and took at step towards me. Lily screamed.

Hearing Lily, the wolf now turned its attention to her and growled. Werewolves can sense fear. I know this because I've studied about them a lot, and not just for school. Call it some strange fancy of mine.

The werewolf, now facing Lily, jumped at her. I shrieked and did the only thing I could do… I ran towards Lily to push her out of the way so that the wolf would attack me instead. My eyes were shut tight when this was about to happen, of course. But it didn't happen at all. When I looked around me, Lily was gone and the werewolf was running away, back into the forest.

"Mina!" I turned my head and saw Lily on the ground… with James Potter.

"Lily! Thank God you're okay!" I said, "And, Potter, where did you come from?"

Lily and I both stared at Potter, looking for an explanation. He rubbed his head and blinked.

"Um… I was in the forest… and, I saw you, and… I had to save Evans. You know? What else was I going to do? Let her die?" Lily smiled faintly.

"Thank you, James," she said. And then she gave him a kiss on the cheek. He put his hand to the cheek she kissed and blushed.

I could not believe my eyes, and neither could Potter.

"Why did the werewolf run away?" Lily asked, looking at Potter. He shrugged, and looked at me for an answer. Then it hit me- something I hadn't realized I had with me. I felt around my neck for a chain with a charm attached. It was still there. My silver dagger.

"I know why. I'm wearing a silver dagger charm. It's harmful to werewolves. I just put it on this morning for no reason, but I haven't worn it for years. I can't believe I didn't realize it," I said.

"That's fortunate," Potter remarked.

"Mina… you could have been killed. I'm sorry for making you do that," Lily apologized.

"Making me do what? Go into the forest? We were outside of the forest when the werewolf attacked, Lily. Don't blame yourself," I said. She nodded.

Silence.

"Well, I guess you're lucky I was around," Potter said, getting up.

"What were you doing out so late?" Lily asked him.

"I couldn't sleep, so I was taking a walk."

"In the _Forbidden Forest_?" I eyed him suspiciously.

"Um… I have to go," he said, running back towards the castle.

"Potter! Detention!" I shouted after him, but he was already too far away.

"Mina, he saved my life. _Let him go_," Lily said.

"Okay."

I shivered.

"It's so cold I can see my own breath," I said, "Let's go."

We went back inside, silent, and then we went to out own common rooms. But before doing so we promised each other not to mention this to anybody.

I slept peacefully that night, knowing that I was safe inside Hogwarts castle.

That morning I woke up early- 7 a.m., precisely.

I looked outside at the forbidden forest. The sun was rising on it; it was so beautiful. It was hard to imagine that just last night I was standing near it, being attacked by a werewolf. That's when I saw a figure running out of the forest and towards the castle. A werewolf?

But my heart sank as I realized who it was. That same person I saw on the last full moon. Remus Lupin. A werewolf.

But he can't be a werewolf, can he? I had to consider the possibilities. What proves that he's a werewolf, anyway?

There's obviously a werewolf at Hogwarts.

Remus wasn't at dinner last night.

He also cancelled tutoring yesterday.

I've never seen him on a full moon, come to think of it.

Two mornings after a full moon he's come out of the forbidden forest, wounded.

He said he'd been keeping a secret from me

So that doesn't prove anything. But it says a _lot_.

The signs are all there… so how do I find out if it's true? I have to test my theory, somehow. The necklace! I'll wear the necklace around him and see if it bothers him. If he can't come near me, then he truly is a werewolf.

But… I can't do this to Remus. I love him too much. And yet… I need to know what he's been hiding from me. This has to be done.

I grabbed the chain around my neck. It'd been there all night. I could go down now to talk to Remus, but he might suspect something. I'll wait until breakfast starts- 1 hour from now.

Walking down to breakfast, I felt my heart beating faster and faster. Why was I so nervous? Was I scared that Remus might actually be a werewolf?

_"Mina, dear, you're a witch just like Mommy!"_

"_But I don't want to be a witch, Mommy! I want to be a werewolf!"_

"_You silly child! Why would you want to be something like that?"_

"_Because I love werewolves!"  
_

I love werewolves. I had told my mom that when I was 6 years old. At the time, I thought people became werewolves as easily as they became witches and wizards. I didn't know it was a painful, scary, lonely thing. I had studied all about werewolves when I first started going to Hogwarts. I fell even more in love with them, and secretly wished I could one day meet one.

So maybe I wasn't scared of the idea of Remus being a werewolf. Maybe I was excited. I don't know. Either way, I knew what I was doing wasn't right. I shouldn't pry into Remus' personal life.

I told myself not to sit at the Gryffindor table. But I sat there anyway, seeing as Lily gestured for me to do so. One can't help being curious, can they?

So when Remus walked into the room, I eagerly waved at him and motioned for him to sit next to me. He hesitated, but then came over and sat down.

"Hey, Remus," I greeted him, fingering my charm. He glanced down at my fingers and looked away almost instantaneously. He squirmed in his seat a little, seemingly awkward, and inched away.

"Hi," he said back, nervously.

"Remus, are you okay?" I asked, trying to sound concerned. But I could not keep a slight smile from creeping across my lips. I just couldn't. And the thought sickened me, that I would actually want the guy I'm crazy about to turn out to be a werewolf. I wiped the smile off of my face immediately.

Remus looked uncomfortable still, but he did not take his eyes off of me. He hesitated a bit, as if unable to find a suitable answer to my question.

"I had a rough night," he said. I nodded.

"Me too."

"Oh?" he seemed to be interested, "How so?"

I stole a quick glance at Potter, who had been listening to our conversation. He just blinked at me. Some help.

"Um… I had prefects' duties; you know how it is," I said. Remus nodded, taking a bite of his scrambled eggs. Potter smirked.

_Sigh_. This wasn't proving anything at all. Sure, Remus seemed a little uncomfortable around me while I had the charm on, but with Remus Lupin, you could never tell what he was thinking. Maybe he was just uncomfortable because he didn't want to be talking to me.

Pettigrew had engendered a conversation with Remus at this point, in which I took the oppurtunity to move closer towards him. He felt me near him; he felt the _dagger_ near him. This caused him to jump up. He clutched his head as if he had a major headache all of a sudden. Pettigrew just stared at him, confused. Potter laughed.

"What's wrong?" Pettigrew asked. Remus did not answer.

"Moony, you okay?" Sirius asked.

Remus shook his head at Sirius and looked at me. His eyes fell to my neck. Then he ran out of the room.

I looked at Potter, who was still silently chuckling.

"What's up with you, mate?" Sirius asked.

"Oh, nothing," Potter replied.

I took off my necklace and placed it in my pocket. Then I looked at the doors which Remus had just ran out of; staring longingly, hoping that he might come back and tell me that it was all just a joke. But he didn't come back. He was a werewolf.

I felt my eyes begin to water as I thought about how much I missed Remus. I wanted him to know that I knew his secret, and that I still cared deeply about him.

I got up and ran out into the hallway, looking left and right. I wasn't sure which way he'd gone, but I decided to just check the hospital wing. Sure enough, that's where Remus had gone.

Madam Pomfrey reluctantly let me in to see Remus, who was lying on a cot. His face was a bright pink color. He looked up at me and smiled shyly.

"Why are you here, Angel?" he asked. He had called me by his special nickname for me. I smiled.

"I was worried."

"Don't be," he said.

"Remus, I know what happened to you," I said softly.

"Really?" He said, interested.

"Yes. And I want to apologize first…"

"Why? It's not your fault," he said.

"What?"

"Somebody put a Finkle Herb in Remus' breakfast. Little brat must've stolen it from the greenhouses. Remus had a reaction to it," Madam Pomfrey quickly explained.

"Some prankster thought it would be funny to mess with me, and I think I know who it was," he said.

I remembered Potter laughing. So _that_ was it? Food allergies?

"Um… I think I'd better go now," I said, leaving the room abruptly.

I sat back down at the breakfast table, unable to believe what had just happened to me. I ignored Lily's questions about what happened and just sat there, pondering.

I was wrong. I had mistakenly believed that Remus Lupin was a werewolf.

* * *

**Okay, so don't complain about this chapter because I know it sucked, but it had to be done.**

**Next chapter is regular 3rd person.**

**It will pick up the pace and explain what happens on Nov. 17th.**

**You're in for a surprise.**

**Until then, -MINA-**


	14. Snape's Secret

**Okay, I finally finished HBP! I put Slughorn in the story now. He's not that important for the plot or anything, but I was intrigued by his character. Don't worry, NO spoilers or anything. You'll just find out who Slughorn is, but that's all!**

**And before we begin the chapter, I'd like to show my gratitude to JKR for what she had happen with our favorite werewolf toward the end of the book: (WARNING: SPOILER)**

**HOW COULD YOU! .:GROWL:.:ROAR:.**

**Mina says, "He's mine, back off, Tonks! God, you're like… 15 years younger than him! Go out with freaking Harry Potter instead!"**

**OKAY, the rest is SPOILER-FREE. Enjoy. **

**Chapter 14**

* * *

It was Thursday, November 16th, the day before the trip, and Mina had just gotten out of her last class of the day. She walked down the hall with Lily, who was talking about James.

"I mean, God! He saved my life, and I thought he'd changed, but no! He's still the little prankster he's always been! Just yesterday I saw him and Sirius hexing one of the Slytherins and I had to give them a detention and- Mina, are you paying attention to me?" she said.

"Huh? Oh, yes. Potter's an asshole, right," Mina replied. Lily sighed.

"You seem a little distracted. Look, I'm gonna go back to my common room. I'll see you later," she said. Mina nodded at her and she left.

"Mina! Just the witch I was looking for!" shouted Professor Slughorn, the potions teacher and head of Slytherin House.

Mina sighed and turned around, faking a smile to her teacher, and silently praying this wasn't about her poor test grade last Wednesday.

"Hello Professor," she said brightly. Slughorn returned her smile.

"You know, from the moment you were sorted into my house, I knew there was something special about you," he said.

"Sir, you weren't at my sorting that year…" Slughorn ignored this.

"And how true I turned out to be! Only daughter of Dr. Julian Gray, one of the greatest potion makers in the entire wizarding world!" he went on.

"But sir, you never even acknowledged me when I started going to Hogwarts," Mina explained.

"Oh…" Slughorn said, as if this was news to him, "Yes, well, back then of course I had no idea what a promising student you'd become!" he said cheerfully.

"…Of course…" Mina said unenthusiastically.

"It's a pity your father didn't go to Hogwarts… he would've had me as a potions teacher, and I'm sure he would have indeed become even greater than he is now!"

"Indeed?" Mina added, trying to sound interested.

"Indeed!" Slughorn repeated, "I'm telling you, Mina, your father is a great man! Genius, if I may say so. Is it true he invented the Tallypat potion?"

Mina nodded.

"Marvelous! Simply spectacular!"

"…You don't say…" Mina muttered.

"…You're sure to follow in his footsteps, I know it!" And with that, Slughorn gave Mina a pat on the back and headed off.

_Finally, the Slug's left me alone!_ She thought to herself, heading back to the Slytherin common room.

Snape was sitting by himself, deep in thought it seemed, when Mina sat down on the forest-green sofa next to him. She thought to herself about what was about to take place just the next day. Snape kept an eye on her, waiting for her to say something. She hadn't spoken to him all week, and it was the first time in the week they had been alone.

"Well, what is it?" he asked finally.

"What is what?" Mina said, looking at him.

"What is troubling you, Mina?"

"What's troubling me? I'll tell you what's troubling me, Sev! We're going to Hogsmeade tomorrow, there's going to be an attack, and you won't do anything about it!" Mina shouted, unaware and not caring that somebody else might've been in the common room to hear her. Snape hesitated.

"I said I'd protect you, didn't I?" He said.

"Well… yes, but you wanted to tell Dumbledore, didn't you? You didn't want us to go to Hogsmeade in the first place!"

"Mina, don't you think I've thought about that? I didn't tell Dumbledore because he already _knows_. He's not stupid," Snape explained.

"What? But you told me he hadn't figured it out… and even if he did without our knowing, why hasn't he postponed the trip?" Mina asked, bemused.

"Because he doesn't trust me," said Snape.

"Sev, I don't think I'm fully understanding you. Did you say Dumbledore doesn't _trust_ you?"

"He doesn't think I'm telling the truth… I mean, would you trust somebody who has been branded with the Dark Mark?" Snape asked. She didn't answer.

"I thought you were on Dumbledore's side," Mina said.

"Am I? Or did I just say that to gain your trust?" Snape glared at Mina. Something about the way he was looking at her just bothered her.

"Sev, don't play games with me! I know you're on Dumbledore's side!" Mina cried, backing away from him. He grabbed her by the wrist.

"Mina, do you truly think Dumbledore can outsmart the Dark Lord with a 16-year-old spy?" Snape asked her. Mina squirmed. His grip was not painful, but it was tight.

"You can't side with the Dark Lord, Severus! I trusted you!" Mina said.

"I give you no reason to lose that trust," he said.

"You're no worse than my mother, joining with the rest of the arrogant, pureblood, power-hungry leeches!" Mina screamed at him. He tightened his grip on her wrist.

"What?"

"You heard me! I said you're a bloodsucking bat! You just want the glory and trust of the purebloods, so you're tagging along with Voldemort's lackeys!" Snape released Mina's arm as if she had the plague. He was stunned that she had just used the Dark Lord's name.

"You wouldn't _dare_ speak that name again!" he said. Mina shook her head.

"I don't care anymore! He's ruining my life! He stole my family from me, and he's trying to take my friend!"

"Friend? So you admit it, then?" he said. Mina nodded silently. "That's right," he continued, "I am your bloody friend! So treat me with some respect!" And with that, he stormed out of the common room.

Mina sat there, unsure of what just happened. She'd never seen Snape so angry before in her life, let alone angry with _her_. She had been so understanding of him, and she had stood by his side even when it seemed he was risking his life. But it turned out he wasn't on the side she thought he was on. He wanted her to treat him with respect? Treat Voldemort with respect is what he really wanted her to do. It's something her mother would tell her. It was something that repulsed her.

* * *

The next morning Mina got ready for the day very hastily. She slipped on a pair of tight jeans and a Slytherin-green tee and threw her robe over that. She then tied her hair up into a messy bun and grabbed her wand, muttering a charm to do her make up. The charm wasn't very effective, as Charms isn't Mina's best subject, and the only thing that happened was a dark shade of orange blush appearing on her cheeks.

"No, no, that's not the right color!" she shouted at her wand as if it were the wand's fault.

She tried again and this time with better results. A light shade of green eyeshadow appeared above her eyes to match with her sweater, and just a hint of pink blush showed up on her cheeks.

"Better, although I did want some eyeliner. Oh, Merlin, who cares? It'll only last for a few hours anyway!"

Satisfied enough, Mina swept down to the common room to find Snape waiting for her.

"I wanted to apologize about last night. I don't know what came over me, allowing myself to shout at you so," he said.

"Apology not accepted," Mina said smartly.

"Why?" Snape asked, annoyed with her behavior towards him.

"I can't forgive you for betraying Dumbledore," she said.

"You- you won't tell, will you?" he asked. Mina stared at him for a while, deciding what would be best to do.

"No, I won't," she said.

"Good, because nobody would believe you anyway!" he said, smirking.

"That's probably true," she replied. Snape didn't know what to say to this. Had she just agreed with him?

"Well… of course it's true!" he said, walking away.

"Where are you going?" Mina called after him.

"To try and convince Dumbledore to postpone the trip," he called over his shoulder.

"Why?" Mina ran to catch up with him, "I mean, I thought you wanted the Dark Lord's plan to ensue."

"That's the thing, Mina, I _do_," he said, snickering.

"What? Wait!" But Snape had already walked away form her, ignoring her.

And then Mina realized what was going on, and it made her want to scream. Why hadn't she realized it before? Why?

There was no attack on Hogsmeade after all. Snape had given Dumbledore false information. The attack was at Hogwarts! That's why Snape wanted Dumbledore to postpone the trip; so all the students would be at Hogwarts! And this meant that Mina's father had nothing to do with the attack and the trip being on the same day.

And Severus Snape… he knew about this all along! He was simply evil! But there was nothing to worry about; Dumbledore would not postpone the trip simply due to Snape's warnings. Snape himself had said that Dumbledore didn't trust him. But there was one thing to worry about- the rest of the students who would be at Hogwarts. Sure, the ones in Mina's potions class would be safe at her father's factory, and the others who were visiting Hogsmeade for the weekend would be equally safe, but that still left half of Hogwarts in danger.

Mina secretly wanted to stay behind and face the death eaters by herself. She wanted to face Voldemort, and her quite insane mother as well. Her quite insane mother, who still thought she was dating Snape, a death eater.

But Mina could not stay behind. Certainly Slughorn would not allow it.

And so, Mina met up with the rest of her class, ready to go on their "trip."

Snape joined them later, a disappointed look on his face. Mina smirked. So he wasn't able to convince Dumbledore.

"Why are you looking so happy?" he asked.

"You know why," she said.

"No, I don't. Hogwarts will still be attacked, Mina," he said.

"Dumbledore will have everything taken care of! He has to! There's no way Hogwarts will be taken!" Mina shouted, unaware of the looks people were giving her.

"Come now, you know that's not true. But it's always nice to hope," Snape sneered. Mina turned away from him, upset. She did not want this to happen. Not while she could do something about it!

"Now, now, don't fret," Snape said. But he was not trying to comfort her. He didn't have the ability to do so. Few did.

On the way to Hogsmeade, Mina ignored Snape and talked to Lily, who seemed excited to be going. Mina was able to rest easier, knowing that her best friend would be safe.

They entered Hogsmeade and saw a rather small building titled _Belby and Gray's potions factory._

"Here we are," Slughorn said.

"Isn't it a bit small to be a factory?" one of the students asked.

"Nonsense! It's just enchanted to appear smaller. It's much larger on the inside. Now, the entrance to the factory is the shop where the potions are sold. When we go into the back room, we'll see where the potions are _made_. Oh, this is so exciting!" Slughorn exclaimed.

"Mina," Lily whispered, "Who's Belby?"

"My father's coworker. They founded the factory together. His two sons go to Hogwarts with us, didn't you know? They're in your house!" Mina said.

"You mean Damocles and Ares Belby? Yes, I know them! Damocles is in the 'Slug Club,'" Lily said. The Slug Club was a group of Slughorn's favorite students, Lily being one of them. They were usually all smart and talented, or well connected; in Lily's case it was 'smart and talented.' She was good in practically every subject.

The class entered the shop now, where they were greeted by a rather clean looking, middle-aged man with brown hair, wearing a shiny emerald tie over a black button down shirt.

"Good morning, ladies and gentleman," he said, looking pleasantly at the group of teenagers standing before him. "My name is Dr. Julian Gray, and I'm the owner of Belby and Gray's," he continued without too much enthusiasm.

Mina sighed. This would be a long trip. Too long.

"I believe all of you know my daughter, Mina," he said. Mina shrank back as everyone stared at her.

"There are a few chains of Belby and Gray's around Britain. Yes, Mina is one of the reasons I chose to oversee the shop here in Hogsmeade. It's nice to be so close to my daughter while I'm working and she's away at school," he went on.

"You see what I mean?" Mina whispered to Lily, "Embarrassing!" Lily laughed.

"Now, if all of you will step into this room over here, I will be in with you shortly," Dr. Gray said. He ushered Slughorn and his class into the back room, but Mina lingered.

"Father…" she said when they were alone, "I know what's happening – or going to happen, rather – at Hogwarts." He sighed.

"I supposed Severus had informed you as much. Yes, Hogwarts will be under attack in any minute now. Well, as soon as the Dark Lord gives his orders," Dr. Gray said.

"And what, exactly, are his orders?" Mina asked, giving her father an inquisitive look.

"Mina, dear, you know I'm not supposed to be discussing this! It's lucky I'm able to be here with you right now! The Dark Lord has excused me from this mission, and allowed me to stay at my shop, as I am expecting some customers," he said.

"Customers?"

"Yes, your class. The Dark Lord does not know that this class will not be at Hogwarts when he attacks. You see, Mina, I arranged this trip with Slughorn so that you'd be away from Hogwarts and you'd be safe," he said.

"Dad! If Vol- If the Dark Lord new about this, he'd have you killed!" Mina cried.

"Shh!" Dr. Gray put his hands on Mina's shoulders in an attempt to keep her quiet.

"Father… Severus told Dumbledore and me that the death eaters would be attacking at Hogsmeade, not Hogwarts! He lied to me… he lied to Dumbledore! Did you know Dumbledore thinks he's working for him?" Mina asked.

"Yes, I do. Severus is, in fact, on our side, not Dumbledore's. This was the Dark Lord's plan," said Dr. Gray.

"But that's crazy!"

"I know. The Dark Lord was planning for an under-aged wizard attending Hogwarts to become a death eater so that he would have someone on the inside at Hogwarts. Severus gladly volunteered for this," Dr. Gray explained.

"But why?"

"Because he heard the Dark Lord wanted you for the job. Yes, _you_, Mina," he said, ignoring Mina's gasps, "You were the first choice. He asked your mum and I about it. Your mum seemed to think it was a good idea, but I protested. When Severus heard about this, he volunteered, so that you wouldn't have to be brought into all of this."

"I-I… can't believe… Severus, all this time… he'd done it for me?" Dr. Gray nodded.

"I… had no idea… But, father, please. What does the Dark Lord have planned?" Mina asked.

"He…" Dr. Gray hesitated for a moment, "he wants Dumbledore killed. And he instructed the death eaters to kill anyone who got in their way."

"Oh my…"

"Dear, don't let it bother you… Come now, let us catch up with the group. They'll wonder what's taking so long," Dr. Gray said, leading Mina into the back room with the other students.

"Oh, Julian! I was wondering where you'd gotten off to! The children are waiting. I was starting to worry. And Mina's with you too… thought we'd lost her… Good thing you're both back now. What's taken you so long? Anyway, on with the tour, I suppose…" Slughorn went on, not waiting for, or expecting, an answer from Dr. Gray.

"Of course," Dr. Gray said, and, without hesitation, led the group over towards several great black cauldrons. "These are where we brew the potions, if you intelligent lot haven't figured that out already."

As the group moved forwards, Mina stayed by the entrance, gesturing for Lily to do the same.

"What is it, Mina?" Lily asked.

"Something… Something's going to happen at Hogwarts, Lil. Dumbledore might be in danger. We need to go back, to warn him…" Mina said as calmly as she could.

"How do you know this?"

"My father. We have to go back, Lily!"

"Okay… we'll go right now. Come on, no one's looking…"

They separated from the group and headed out of the shop to go back to Hogwarts, but somebody had been following them…

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" The spell hit Lily square in the back and she froze, falling over onto her back. Mina turned around to face their predator.

It was Snape. Mina raised her wand to defend herself, but he didn't attack.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" she asked.

"You. Go on. Attack me, Mina."

She raised her wand and said, "Expelliar-" but with a flick of his wand, Snape blocked her attack.

"How did you…?"

"I am a master at Legilimency and Occlumency," he explained. Mina laughed.

"Yeah, right," she said, still laughing.

"Shut up! I've been practicing for the past month! I can tell what you're thinking…" he said.

Mina concentrated hard. _You're an idiot, you're an idiot, you're an idiot, you're an idiot, _she thought.

"No I'm not!" he shouted, "_Imperio!_" A flash of light hit Mina and she felt she was unable to control herself. She heard Snape's voice in her head, telling her what to do. She fought off the curse with all her might, trying to gain control of her own actions.

_Put a memory spell on Lily so she forgets what happened this morning. We don't want her to worry about you, now, _he instructed. Mina couldn't do it to Lily… She had to stop herself… but she couldn't. She put a spell on Lily's limp body to erase her memories of that morning.

_Walk forward,_ he said. Mina found herself walking towards him, unable to stop herself.

_Now follow me, _he continued, turning and walking without looking back. Mina had no choice. She struggled, but she'd never been put under an unforgivable curse before, so it was difficult.

Snape kept walking and eventually stopped in front of the Hog's Head. There weren't too many people in there, and he walked inside, Mina following him.

He sat down in a booth and Mina sat across from him. She stared at him, blankly.

"Why did you bring me here?" she asked, "Why not erase my memories like Lily?"

"Your memories are far more valuable than a mudblood's," he said.

"Don't call her that!" Mina shouted at him.

"Well, it's what she is. And you, a pureblood, consider yourself her friend? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a blood-traitor!"

"Oh, you should talk, Mr. Half-blood-and-proud-of-it!"

"Proud of it? Proud that I have a mudblood for a father? Please!" He laughed.

"There you go. And just because I'm not as proud of being pureblood as the rest are, doesn't make me a blood-traitor!" He stared at her.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to accuse you of anything," he said sincerely. She looked at him. She was sorry he had to go through all of this. She pitied him, and yet, she still could not believe he did everything for her, so she didn't have to. She wondered whether or not she should tell him that she knew what he did for her, but she decided not to.

"So… why are we in here?" she asked finally.

"I have to keep you out of trouble, of course," Snape said.

"I see. And how long will that take?"

"Until I get orders from one of the death eaters," he said.

"So you brought me here on orders?"

"I was ordered to stop anyone who might get in the way," he said.

"Oh. Well, in that case, you can let me go. I won't get in the way," she said.

"Legilimens," he reminded her.

"Fuck."

"I'm doing this for your own good, Mina. You really don't want to get in the way. You don't know what'll happen to you," he warned.

"I don't care what'll happen to me," she said.

"I think it's best right now you do not go against the Dark Lord. He has his eyes on you, Mina!"

"What?"

"He is intent on recruiting you as his newest death eater," Snape explained.

"But why me?" Mina asked.

"Your cousins, Narcissa and Bellatrix, have joined his side. He could not get Andromeda, the youngest sister. Crazy girl! Only 17 years old, and she's running off to be married to some muggle," Snape said.

"He couldn't get Andromeda so he wants me instead?" Mina asked.

"Precisely. But I think he wants to wait until you're a bit older. I'm not sure. But he'll certainly have you and your family killed if you defy him now," Snape said.

"No! He can't… I… alright. I won't go back to Hogwarts," she said. Snape raised his wand and suddenly Mina felt an air of freedom flowing through her body; he had lifted the curse.

"Thanks," she said.

"No problem."

Suddenly a man in black whom Mina did not recognize right away rushed into the Hog's Head. He had blond hair and silver eyes- Lucius Malfoy.

"Severus, the death eaters are retreating! Dumbledore's men showed up… we couldn't stop them… we have to go, now!" Lucius called.

"Lucius, dear, you too?" Mina said.

"Ah, Mina. It's good to see you… can't talk now… Severus! Let's go!"

Severus got up and nodded do Mina, and the two death eaters left the bar. Mina sighed. Things were not going how she wanted them to be going. She got up and left the bar, heading back towards her father's shop.

When she got there, she saw Lily back with the rest of the group again. She hurried over towards her.

"Mina! Where have you been?" she asked.

Mina really didn't feel like explaining to her friend everything that had happened, nor did she know how to bring back her memories, so she just said, "I got delayed."

"Oh. Well, it's a wonder Slughorn hasn't noticed you were gone! You'd be in trouble!"

"Yeah."

"Miss Gray, so nice of you to join us! Where have you been the past half hour?" Slughorn was mad. Dr. Gray looked at his daughter and sighed.

"Professor, I…"

"You were just going out for a stroll? That'll be a detention in my office next Friday at 4!" Mina sighed. That meant no tutoring next week.

"Yes, sir."

Dr. Gray resumed telling a story of how he invented the Tallypat potion, which caught Slughorn's attention once again.

When they all went back to the castle that afternoon, Snape rejoined them. Slughorn noticed this and gave him detention as well. When everyone else entered the castle, Mina cornered Snape.

"Where did you go?" she asked.

"I… I had to go back, but then the Dark Lord told me he had no more use for me, and let me go…"

"Really?" Mina said hopefully.

"Well, at least that's what I'm supposed to tell Dumbledore," Snape said.

"Sev!"

"What? He doesn't want Dumbledore to get too suspicious, which he already has. So I'm not playing that role anymore. For now, I'm a loyal death eater," he explained. Mina held her face in her hands.

"I hate you…" she said, sobbing.

"Wha… What did I do?" he asked.

"Nothing. You're just… such an idiot! Getting yourself into all of this for me!"

"Y-you know?" Mina nodded.

"My father told me you volunteered in my place. You didn't have to do that. I could've taken on the responsibility," Mina said.

"No, you couldn't have!" said Snape. Mina sighed.

"You're right. I'd just wind up dead. How can you be so good at all of this, Sev? You're only 15… and such an accomplished wizard already. Better than I ever could have dreamed to be," she sobbed. Snape put his arm around her comfortingly. But she just pushed him away.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I don't want you to worry about me." Mina let out a small laugh.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing. You just reminded me of Remus for a second. He's always telling me not to worry about him," she replied.

"Ugh! Don't make me gag, Mina!" he said.

"I'm sorry. I can't help it," she said, grinning. He laughed.

"Mina, I've wanted to say this… I don't think our friendship has been going that well for the past few weeks…. I want to rebuild it; turn over a new leaf. What do you say?"

"Okay." She smiled at him. He returned the smile.

And so, Snape decided he'd rather just be friends with Mina, although he still loved her deep down. But they got along a lot better than ever.

* * *

**Well, that's it for 14. I can't believe I wrote such a long chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter will be more Mina/Remus bonding.**

**See ya! And don't forget to review!**


	15. Quidditch Practice

**Okay, so now that I posted the last chapter, I really think this story is getting somewhere. I have a question though for my reviewers: Does Mina seem like a Mary Sue? Because I was hoping she wouldn't seem that way. I mean, when I created her, I thought her character was much more important to the Harry Potter world than just Remus Lupin's lover. . ugh. I mean, now that I look back, the first, like, 7 chapters were all concentrated on that, but… ugh. And she's obviously not perfect. Okay, I shouldn't get too paranoid about this, I know. But please tell me that Mina is NOT a Mary Sue!**

**Okay, with that said, on with the story!**

**Chapter 15

* * *

**

Hogwarts had just been attacked by death eaters, trying to get to Dumbledore. Luckily, members of the Order of the Phoenix were there to defend the school and it headmaster. They were able to fight off the death eaters and Hogwarts was safe once again. However, the death eaters had entered Hogwarts far too easily. So Dumbledore had to take safety provisions after this, to make sure there was no way anyone could enter Hogwarts uninvited. This calmed many worried parents who were thinking of taking their sons or daughters out of the school.

Monday was like any other school day, except for one thing: the first Slytherin quidditch practice of the year. Mina was excited and could not wait to be flying again. She and Lily sat by the lake during lunch, talking as usual.

"So the first game's on Saturday?" Lily asked.

"Yup. Slytherin vs. Gryffindor, as always. I'm gonna cream Potter!" Mina bragged.

"Huh. Well, just don't get a bigger head than Potter's head," Lily said.

"Is that even possible?" Mina asked. They laughed.

"But really, I want Gryffindor to win," Lily said.

"I know. That's fine with me. It's your house."

"I know. Hey, maybe Remus will cheer for you," Lily said. Mina laughed.

"Yeah right, only in my dreams," she said.

"Oh? So you're dreaming about him now?" Lily giggled.

"Well, daydreaming at least. Lily, I can't get my bloody thoughts off of him!" Mina exclaimed.

"Then you have to talk to him! Don't avoid him!" Lily reprimanded.

"I don't avoid him… well, maybe a little… but he avoids me too!"

"You two are so shy around each other! Why? It's not like you haven't already snogged each other!"

"That was different, Lily! I don't know how, but it was. We could never go back to that. I wish we could. He's so wonderful, and he's the nicest guy I've ever met! But even Remus said that he wasn't acting like himself when we were going out. Heck, I wasn't even acting like myself. And when we're around each other now, it's just awkward."

"Well, why wouldn't it be awkward? You two like each other!"

"Lil, what do you want me to do?"

"Talk to him. Invite him to come to the quidditch game on Saturday to see you play," Lily suggested.

"That's it? That's easy!" Mina said.

"Is it? There he is now, go talk to him," Lily said, pointing behind Mina. Mina spun around. Remus was coming out of the castle towards them. She got up and walked over to him.

"Hey, Remus," she said.

"Hi Mina," he greeted her with an awkward smile.

"Um… are you going to the quidditch game on Saturday? I'm playing," she said.

"Yeah, I'm going," he said. Mina turned and glanced at Lily, who mouthed the words: _keep talking._

"So, Remus, I forgot to tell you that I can't go to tutoring on Friday because I have detention with Slughorn," she said.

"That's okay. We're pretty much done with tutoring," he said.

"What?"

"Your grades are improving," he explained.

"Oh. I hadn't realized… well, I guess there's no reason to keep tutoring me…"

"You seem a little upset."

"No… well, I just enjoyed spending time with you," she said. Remus looked at the ground.

"I'm glad… that you enjoyed spending time with me. I mean, I enjoyed spending time with you too, uh…"

"Thanks," Mina said. He looked up at her.

"Your welcome." The bell rang at that moment, and Remus waved goodbye and walked away, leaving Mina to go back to Lily.

"Well?" Lily asked.

"What? Oh… he's coming," Mina said.

"Good. Now let's get to Transfig. class. We don't want to be late," she said.

"Right." They grabbed their books and headed to class.

* * *

Mina went to quidditch practice early at the end of the day, excited and ready to fly. When she entered the pitch, she saw the Slytherin quidditch captain, Jesse Sprint, playing with the snitch. He was a chaser, but he'd started out as a seeker. He had dirty blond hair with long bangs that were pushed to the side, revealing a very handsome tanned face with gorgeous blue eyes. He was a 7th year, and they never really talked to each other outside of quidditch. 

"Hey Sprint," she greeted merrily. He looked up at her, accidentally letting the snitch get away.

"Aw, damn. Oh well, I'll just make Regulus get it when he gets here," he said. Regulus was the seeker for the team. And just at that moment, he entered the pitch.

"Speak of the devil," Sprint said.

"Hey, sorry I'm late!" Regulus said.

"Actually, you're early," Mina said.

"Oh. Well, good," he said.

"Hey, Regulus, I just released the snitch. Go find it," Sprint said.

"Right." Regulus mounted his broom and took off in pursuit.

"So, what do you want me to do, captain?" Mina asked.

"Wait. It's still early and the rest of the team hasn't gotten here yet," he said.

"Okay."

"So, Mina… I heard you and Snape snuck off during that class trip. What were you two doing?" he asked. Mina just stared at him. Was he prying into her personal life now?

"Why do you want to know?" she asked.

"Just thought maybe you two were sneaking off to go shag each other or something. But if I'm wrong…" Mina smirked.

"Is that the rumor that's going around?" she asked.

"Actually, no. I mean, everyone thinks you two were just… being rebellious. But I think there's more to it," he grinned.

"Well, there is more to it. But it has nothing to do with shagging. I don't fancy Snape that way," she said.

"Well that's good to know," he said, "but… it's also a little suspicious how you two ran off, and then when everyone got back to Hogwarts, it was under attack."

"We didn't do anything to cause it, if that's what you're getting at," she said.

"Okay. I believe you," he said.

"Good."

"So, you're really not seeing Snape?" he asked after a pause.

"I told you, I don't fancy him that way!"

"Okay, okay," Sprint said, putting his hands up in defense.

"But why did you want to know? Are you interested or something?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe," he said, grinning at her. Mina didn't know exactly what to say. She hadn't expected the incredibly hot and popular Jesse Sprint to be interested in her. Not when she was so occupied with Remus Lupin.

Just then, the rest of the Slytherin quidditch team entered the pitch, broomsticks in hand, ready for their first practice of the year.

"Alright, boys, let's begin," Sprint said, getting up. Jessica Colman, a chaser and the only other girl on the team, folded her arms at hearing the word 'boys.' Sprint didn't seem to notice this.

"Everyone get on your brooms, fly off towards the goal posts over there, and I'll release the quaffle and bludgers," he said.

Mina got on her broom and flew towards the goal posts as was instructed, followed by the rest of the team. Regulus had caught the snitch by now, and was playing around with it like Sprint had just been doing. A second later, the quaffle was being tossed around by the three chasers, and Mina had to protect the goals.

Sprint grabbed the quaffle and headed toward the middle goal post, where Mina was hovering. He was fast, and Mina didn't take her eyes off the red ball in his hands. He threw it towards the right goal post and she went to catch it, but it went through.

"Goal!" he shouted, "Haha! I'm the best! Oh, and by the way, Mina, you suck! Haha!" He didn't really think she sucked at the game, he was just getting a big head. Otherwise, he wouldn't have let her on the team.

Mina grabbed the quaffle and tossed it to Jessica, who flew towards her with it. Mina flew back and forth, in and out of the goal posts, eyes on the quaffle at all times. Jessica threw it up in the air, hoping to throw Mina off, and leaned her arms on her broom so that she could get a good shot at kicking the quaffle. Her right leg swung around, kicking the ball towards the left goal. But Mina was already there, and she caught it just in time. She then threw it to the third chaser, Trevor Dein.

Trevor looked nervous. He was a good chaser, but not as good as Jessica. He gripped the quaffle tightly and flew as quick as he could towards the right goal post. He shut his eyes tight and threw it in, not wanting to look. Mina caught the quaffle and threw it back to him.

"It's okay, Trevor, just try again," she said, "and open your eyes this time." He nodded.

Trevor did the exact same thing with his eyes open this time, but just when Mina was about to grab the ball, she was hit in the stomach by a bludger. The quaffle went in.

"YES!" Trevor shouted.

Mina squealed in pain, unable to keep her balance on the broom. She fell over to her left, quickly heading towards the ground. Sprint flew after her and caught her in his arms before she could hit the ground.

Mina held her stomach with her right hand. It felt like she couldn't breathe, but she looked up at Sprint and managed to say 'thanks' before passing out.

* * *

When she woke up, Mina was in the hospital wing. Sprint was by her side, clutching her hand.

"I am so sorry," he said. She smiled weakly.

"It wasn't your fault,"she said softly.

"Actually, it sort of was. Merrick hit the bludger towards me as a joke, and I moved out of the way, and… it hit you instead," he explained.

"As long as it didn't happen on purpose. So… how long was I out?" she asked.

"Not very long. A half hour, maybe more. You didn't suffer any real damage, thank God," he said.

"She's awake!" Madam Pomfrey said, entering the room. She looked at Sprint and said, "You, out!" He sighed, and walked towards the door, but he did not leave the room.

"Now, my dear, does it still hurt?" Pomfrey asked sweetly.

"Like hell," Mina responded.

"Well, that's okay, as long as there's no damage. Here, take this for the pain," she said, holding out a glass of orange liquid. Mina took it and swallowed it all. After a while, she felt a tingling in her stomach.

"Well?" Madam Pomfrey said.

"The pain's gone," Mina said.

"Good. You can go, but don't play any more quidditch for the rest of the day. And get plenty of rest," she said. Mina got up and exited the room with Sprint.

"She's right. You should get some rest. May I escort you back to the common room?" he asked, holding out his arm. Mina smiled politely and wrapped her arm around his, then walked back to the common room with him.

Snape was sitting in the common room, looking at his Potions book, and glanced up. He grimaced when he saw Mina walking in, her arm linked with the quidditch captain's.

Mina let go of Sprint's arm and looked at Snape, who was giving her a questioning look. She smiled at him. Snape shook his head and returned his attention to his book.

"Thanks for eveything, Sprint," she said, turning back to him.

"Call me Jesse," he said.

"Jesse," she said, and found that she liked hearing herself say his name. She walked off towards the girl's dorms and headed up the stairs. Then she got into bed and closed her eyes and slept.

* * *

**I know I said more Remus in this chapter, but I didn't lie! Remus is in this chapter, just not too much. He will definitely be in the next two chapters a lot more. And in chapter 18… well, you'll see. This chapter certainly changed the story a lot. Now we have Jesse Sprint, the hot quidditch captain. He wasn't originally planned to be in this story at all, but I love his character so much! Don't worry, he's not going to replace Remus or anything. But tell me what you think of him so far.**


	16. Detention with the Slug and Quidditch

**I got absolutely no reviews for the last chapter! I am so appalled! Was chapter 15 really that horrible? Or did everybody just forget about me? **

**Well, I'm not giving up hope! I still updated, didn't I? Hehe. I know somebody out there is still reading this story. (A/N: actually I just got _one_ review for ch. 15 yesterday. So nvm.)

* * *

**

**Chapter 16**

That Friday, Mina and Snape had detention with Slughorn. After class, they made their way down to Slughorn's office, where the potions teacher was waiting patiently.

"Miss Gray, Mr. Snape. Please have a seat," he said, motioning for them to sit down. Mina stole a quick glance at Snape before sitting in a rather comfortable chair in front of Slughorn's desk. Snape sat down next to her.

"Now, if you look behind me, you'll notice a rather untidy bookshelf," Slughorn began. Mina studied the bookshelf behind him; there was nothing untidy about it.

"That is to say," Slughorn continued, "that I need my books to be alphabetized. Miss Gray, if you would be so kind. You will, of course, not be needing your wand." He took her wand and placed it on his desk.

"Mr. Snape," Slughorn said next, turning to Snape, "I'd like you to organize my desk and dust my shelves. And I'll take your wand as well." Snape groaned, but handed his wand to the head of Slytherin house. Slughorn placed it on his desk.

"Now, if you don't mind, I have somewhere to be," he said, getting up to leave the room. "I'll be back in two hours to check in on your progress." He walked out of the room and shut the door behind him.'

"Well," said Mina, turning to Snape, "this should be fun." Snape smirked.

"Loads," he said. "But hey, at least you've got the easy job. I mean, look at this desk! It's loaded with papers and boxes of pineapple!" Mina laughed.

"Yeah, I'd say the Slug's taken a liking to me, wouldn't you? Otherwise it'd be me clearing up that lousy excuse for a desk," she said.

"I doubt it. I'm his favorite student, you know," he said. Mina smirked.

"Yeah, and all because you're a talented potion maker. Huh. And to think that I'm your only friend!"

"I'd prefer to have as little friends as possible," he muttered.

"So you've said. Hey, do you think that's why everyone makes fun of you? Or maybe it's just your greasy hair…"

"All right, I get it! Now please leave me alone," he said angrily. Mina knew when to back off.

"Okay, I'm sorry," she apologized. Snape just shook his head, smiling inwardly. Nobody in the entire world could insult him and at the same time be so nice to him…

Mina tied her hair back, letting a few strands fall in her face. She walked over to the bookshelf and began taking out books. The bookshelf was huge; there had to be at least 300 books.

Snape began working on the desk, moving various objects around. He could think of a million other places he'd rather be, but was happy, at least, to be alone with Mina.

"So what's the deal with Sprint?" he asked, striking up a conversation.

"What do you mean?" Mina said while putting _Advanced Potion Making _in front of _Antidotes and Remedies._

"Come on now, don't play dumb," Snape said, "I saw the two of you, arm in arm, all smiling and giggling and stuff." Mina laughed.

"Are you jealous… again?"

"No," Snape replied rather quickly.

"Look, there's nothing going on between Jesse and I. And I suggest you drop the subject," she said. Snape would not give up, though.

"What about Lupin? You still like him, don't you?" Mina sighed.

"Yes I do. Why?"

"I don't know. But I think you're better off with Sprint. At least he's Slytherin," Snape said. Mina did not reply. She shoved the already alphabetized books to one side of the shelf.

Suddenly the door of the office opened. Jesse Sprint walked in, followed by the two Slytherin beaters.

"Jesse…" Mina put down _Cauldrons and Kettles _and stared blankly at her captain.

"Alphabetizing Slughorn's books? No problem. Flynn, Merrick, take care of this. What time will Slughorn get back?"

"Hour and a half from now," Mina replied.

"That doesn't give us much time, then," Sprint said.

"Time for what?" Mina asked.

"One last practice before the game. Come on, the rest of the team's waiting out on the pitch! This'll be our little secret…"

"I can't, Jesse…" Mina said.

"Don't worry about it," he said, grinning. God, he was so gorgeous when he smiled…

"O-okay. But what about Flynn and Merrick?"

"They're fine. It's the least they could do for hitting you with that bludger. Now come on!" Sprint grabbed Mina's arm and led her out into the hallway.

"This is the second time I'm breaking the rules! And I'm a prefect, too! If the Slug finds out…"

"He won't, Mina. I promise," Sprint said, looking down at her seriously. Mina looked up into his blue eyes. She never realized how tall he was before, and she was wearing heels today. She shook her head.

"Okay, okay. I'm coming," she said. A wide grin broke out on his face.

"Good." They walked outside and towards the pitch.

"Wait," Mina said, stopping in her tracks, "what about my broom?"

"I have an extra broom for you," he explained.

"Oh good," she sighed in relief. Sprint just stared at her. "What?"

"Hmm… do you want to race me to the pitch?" he asked.

"Why?"

"I want to see how fast you can run," he said.

"_Liar_," Mina muttered, not loud enough for him to hear. "Why would you want to see how fast I can run?"

"I don't know," he shrugged, "but… you don't think you can beat me?"

"I probably could," she said. Sprint laughed.

"I doubt that. I'm the best of the best," he said. And with that, he took off towards the pitch.

"Jesse! I never said I wanted to… Dammit! I'm wearing bloody heels!" she shouted as she chased after him. She couldn't catch up to him in heels, but got a brilliant idea just then. She took off one of her shoes and threw it at him.

"OW!" he stopped, rubbing his back, "That's some aim. You should be a chaser." She caught up to him, her other shoe in her hand.

"No thanks. I'll stick with keeper," she said. He picked up her other shoe and went to hand it to her.

"Holy crap! That's gotta be a 3-inch heel!" he said, observing it.

"Yeah? And?"

"So you're like, a midget!" Mina threw her other shoe at him.

"OW! That hurts, you know!" he said angrily, but could not help letting out a chuckle. Mina laughed, too.

"I'm 5'1"," she informed him.

"Ah, I see. A midget." She punched him in the arm having no shoes left.

"Where's your wand?" he asked.

"Slughorn's office," she said.

"Oh. Hey, you have really big feet."

"Why thank you, Mr. Obvious! Yes, I have big feet and I'm short, okay? I'm secretly a hobbit," she said.

"I knew it!"

She shot him a death glare.

"Sorry… Frodo." She punched him again.

"What is it with you and people's flaws? Don't you have something that you don't like about yourself?"

"Hmm… I never thought about it. But, me being a quidditch captain… I always saw myself as physically flawless, I guess." Mina just stared at him.

"You really are big-headed."

"Nah, I'm just so overly competitive that it scares people," he said.

"So that's why you wanted to race me?" she asked. He shrugged.

Mina put her shoes back on and they walked the rest of the way to the pitch, got on their brooms, and joined the team. After a little more than an hour, Sprint checked his watch.

"Crap, you gotta get back!" he said to Mina.

"Already? Dammit, I was doing so good today," she said.

"It doesn't matter, as long as you do good tomorrow. And if you don't, I'll…"

"You'll what?" she asked, flying closer to him.

"I'll have to kiss you until you do better," he said, grinning at her. Mina leaned back on her broom.

"Oh? You think a kiss from you will make me do better?"

"Humph. Of course. I can do anything,' he said confidently. Mina laughed.

"I like you, Jesse. You're funny," she said.

"I was being serious," he said.

"So was I. I really do like you, _Jesse_," she said with a slight hint of seductiveness.

"Of course you do," he said. She flew past him, slapping him on the bum.

"See ya tomorrow."

When Mina got back, she found Snape finishing the last touch on Slughorn's shelves.

"Where're Flynn and Merrick?" she asked.

"They finished early," he said, a slight annoyed tone in his voice.

"Is something wrong?" she asked him, concerned.

"Mina, how can you ask that? You snuck out to go practice bloody quidditch, and I got stuck here cleaning Slughorn's mess!" he bellowed.

"Oh. I… I'm sorry. I didn't think it would bother you that much," she said. He sighed.

"That's okay. Just next time, think things over."

"I didn't have much time to, okay? Jesse just came in here and grabbed me, and-"

"Mina! It's okay. I'm sorry; I shouldn't have yelled at you." Just then, the office door opened, and in stepped Slughorn.

"Ah, you're both finished?" he said, studying the condition of the room.

"Yes sir," Snape said.

"Excellent! Good job, both of you. You may go now," he said. They took their wands and left the office.

* * *

On Saturday, Mina was at the quidditch pitch early. She found Sprint on his broom, flying around the goalposts, the snitch in his hands. She mounted her broom and flew up by him. 

"You really love quidditch, don't you?" she asked. He just laughed.

"Who, me? I live for quidditch!" he said, letting go of the snitch and catching it just in time. Mina could not help but laugh, too.

"What?" Sprint raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing. It's just… you are the most competitive person I know. Which, of course, makes you a little conceited and critical. But I just can't bring myself to hate you!" she said truthfully.

"Well, that's because I'm a Slytherin, so I'm allowed to be a little conceited and critical. And you, you're a Slytherin too, so you can't help but be attracted to that sort of thing," he said. Mina shook her head.

"I don't think that's it," she said, "I think it's the fact that while you're so-overly-competitive-that-it-scares-people, you're still very charming, and very hot."

"You think I'm hot?" he said, not looking at her, but paying attention to the snitch.

"Yes," Mina said. _How could I not?_

"Well of course you do! Everyone thinks I'm hot! Even the guys…" he said.

"And this is just a _small_ example of how conceited you are," Mina said, keeping a straight face.

"But I'm still hot!" Sprint said.

"Yes. Still hot, of course. And charming, right? I said charming, too, didn't I?" Mina grinned

"Oh, I almost forgot about that one. I have to be charming, now don't I?" He grinned back.

"Yes you do."

"Well, then, I'd like to tell you that you're the most beautiful Slytherin 5th year girl I know," he said.

"Well you've certainly narrowed it down, haven't you? Considering there are only two other Slytherin 5th year girls…" Mina laughed.

"I know; I'm just that generous. But really, Mina, you are pretty, even though you're a hobbit," he said.

"Why thank you. I'll take that as a compliment, seeing as you don't do that very often," she replied.

"Well, the game is about to start. We'd better head down to the locker rooms and get our quidditch robes on…" Sprint said. Mina nodded. They made their way down to the locker rooms and went their separate ways.

When Mina was fully dressed and ready to play, she got onto the pitch, and looked around to see the stands almost fully occupied. She smiled at this and her eyes wandered over towards the Gryffindors. There was Remus, along with Sirius and Peter. Lily was sitting a few seats away.

Mina got on her broom and headed out towards the goalposts, ready for the game to begin. Madam Wheeler, the flying teacher, blew a very loud whistle, indicating for the game to begin. She released the quaffle and then the bludgers, and then finally, the golden snitch.

Mina steadied herself on her broom and hovered around the goalposts slowly, keeping a close watch on the quaffle. The red ball was being tossed around by Sprint, Jessica, and Trevor, on the other side of the pitch. Finally, Trevor managed to toss the quaffle in towards the left goal… he made it! Trevor was so excited; he almost lost himself for a moment as the quaffle was thrown back in. James Potter caught the quaffle and headed towards the other side. He dodged a bludger, receiving some cheers from the Gryffindors, and then he made his way towards Mina. He had a sly smile on his face as he dodged another bludger and threw the quaffle in. Mina just missed and it went in, much to her dismay. The Gryffindors cheered again, and James smirked. Mina stuck her tongue out at him and tossed the quaffle to Sprint.

This went on for the first part of the game. Mina would make a save and every so often, and usually when it was James with the quaffle, she'd miss the ball. Sprint and Jessica managed to make a few goals themselves. Regulus was flying around, looking for the snitch, but still paying attention to the rest of the game.

Just when Sprint was going for another goal, Regulus caught sight of the snitch. Whether or not Sprint made that goal no longer mattered, as all eyes were on Regulus and the Gryffindor seeker, who was following close behind him.

The Gryffindor seeker managed to catch up with Regulus, but only for a moment, as Regulus lunged forward and caught the snitch. The Slytherins cheered, and Sprint looked happy. He flew over to Mina and threw his arms around her, screaming, "I won! I won!"

"Hold it there, Jesse," Mina said, laughing, "We all won, not just you." He laughed.

"I know. We all did a good job. Except for you! You were a disgrace! I guess I'm going to have to give you that kiss now," he said, grinning. And then he kissed her.

Mina kissed him back, if only for a moment, before pulling back. He was still wearing that silly grin on his face. She sighed. Kissing Jesse Sprint was not what she expected it to be. No fireworks, nothing. He was no Remus Lupin…

"Hey everyone!" Sprint turned and shouted at his team, "Good job you guys! Party in the common room after dinner!" Then he turned back to Mina and said, "You're coming, right?" Mina hesitated. She looked around and saw the Gryffindors leaving the stands. She saw Remus. She wanted to talk to him…

"I don't know, Jesse," she said.

"Come on! You have to come, even if it's just for a little while! They'll be firewhiskey…" he grinned at this and Mina shook her head.

"Okay, okay. I'll come for a little while," she said. (A/N: she's really just going for the firewhiskey. o.O lol, kidding)

"Great," Sprint said, satisfied.

They left the quidditch pitch, had an hour to clean up, and then it was time for dinner. Mina went down to dinner on time to find Lily sitting by herself at the Gryffindor table. She walked over towards her.

"Hey Lily," she said, sitting down next to her.

"Hey." Lily smiled at her friend.

"Where's Phoebe?" Mina looked up and down the Ravenclaw table but did not spot her Asian friend.

"Uh, Mina, she's right over there," Lily pointed across the Gryffindor table where Phoebe was snogging with one Sirius Black. Mina groaned.

"Well, at least she's having fun," she said with a slight look of disgust on her face as she watched the two, "so what's up, Lil?"

"Um, not much… how about you? Your team won today. Aren't you glad?"

"Yeah, I am," Mina said, glancing over at the Slytherin table to see Sprint talking with his friends, "But it's like all of a sudden, I'm very popular. Jesse warmed up to me, and I mean, he's a nice guy, albeit a little conceited. But he invited me to come to the party in the common room and everything. And although the party's open to all Slytherins, it feels strange that I'd be invited."

"Why?" Lily queried.

"I don't know. I was always a loner, wasn't I?" Mina said.

"No way! You have me and Phoebe."

"But no Slytherins," Mina said with a sigh. Lily shrugged.

"What about Snape?"

"…He's more of a loner than I am. And I'm his only friend. So there you go. People like Jesse Sprint, the popular Slytherin quidditch captain, don't usually acknowledge me," Mina said.

"So? Isn't this a good thing, then?" Lily asked.

"I don't know. The thing is, I really like Jesse, but… after the game, he kissed me," Mina explained.

"Really? How was it?" Lily asked.

"Terrible. I mean, he's a good kisser and all, but when he kissed me, I didn't feel anything. I just don't think we belong together," Mina explained. Lily squealed.

"Do you know what this means, then?" she asked excitedly.

"Um… I'm not cut out to be a Slytherin?"

"Don't be silly! Of course you're… oh, never mind. This means that…" Lily looked around, to make sure nobody would hear, then whispered into Mina's ear, "You're meant to be with Remus!" Mina backed away.

"That's stupid, Lily! Don't get my hopes up," she said.

"Well I believe it, anyway. Hey, look! Remus is sitting by the Marauders, looking bored out of his skull! Go talk to him," Lily encouraged.

"No."

"Come on!"

"No."

"_Mina_."

"_Lily_."

"Go!" Lily shoved her friend up out of her seat and towards where the Marauders were sitting. Mina stood up straight, glared back at Lily, and then slowly walked forward. James was talking to Peter about something, Sirius was busy with Phoebe, and Remus was all by himself. Mina sat down in the empty seat next to him, opposite Sirius and Phoebe.

"Hey Remus," she said, a slight smile on her face.

"Oh, um… hi, Mina. Congratulations on winning the game," he said.

"Thanks." They sat in silence for a moment, and Mina felt very awkward. Remus was looking down at his food, but not touching it.

"So… How have things been?" She asked, striking up a conversation. He looked directly at her.

"Oh… Good, I suppose. Is there something you wanted, Mina?" he asked, a slight tone of annoyance in his voice.

"Well, no. Not really, Remus. Just trying to be friendly. Is that a crime?" she asked casually. Remus' brow furrowed.

"No, not that I know of." He said.

"Remus, what the hell is the matter with you?" she asked.

"What? What are you talking about?" He looked confused.

"You know what I'm talking about! Why are you acting so distant towards me? What did I do to deserve this? And why is it that you never smile when you're around me any more? Why?"

"Mina, I… Something's happened," he said, softly.

"What happened?" Mina asked, bemused.

"I… didn't realize it before it was too late…"

"Didn't realize what before what was too late?"

"Didn't realize that we could never be together, because… Mina, I need you to go. I'm sorry if I've been distant, but it has to be this way. I can't even look at you," he said, turning away. Mina went to put her hand on his shoulder, thought better of it, and then stood up to walk away. She glanced over her shoulder to see Potter looking back at her consolingly, as if he'd been listening to their conversation the whole time.

Mina sat back down by Lily and explained what happened. Then, declaring that she had lost her appetite, she went back to her common room.

When she got there, there were a few younger Slytherin girls helping to set up for the victory party. Among them was Carly Davids, Mina's roommate.

"Hey Carly," Mina greeted cheerfully.

"Hey, Mina. Wanna help set up?" she asked. Mina smiled but shook her head.

"I'll just get in the way." She watched as the younger Slytherins decorated the room in green and silver. Carly was setting up a small table, which would undoubtedly be used for refreshments. Mina strolled over towards her.

"So, um, Carly… Jesse said there'd be firewhiskey tonight?" Carly studied her.

"Yeah, and?"

"So it's true? How are we getting firewhiskey?" she asked.

"The 7th years got some at Hogsmeade last weekend and smuggled it in. You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

"No, of course not!" Mina said, "It's just… I've never had any before. I'm curious."

"Well, you're in for a real treat. Just don't drink too much. You never know what could happen," she said with an awkward laugh. Mina shook her head.

"I'm smarter than that, I think," she said, grinning. The other girls walked over towards them now, obviously done with their decorating.

"Hey, Mina," one of them, a 3rd year greeted. She had curly blond hair and thick glasses, shielding her brown eyes. "We wanted to know what's going on between you and Jesse Sprint." So that was what they were up to. Mina smiled politely at the three girls, and they giggled.

"I'm not going to tell," she said, trying to mess with their minds. They all looked at each other in shock.

"But… we wanted to know at least… if he's single?" Another one said. She had thick, black hair and a pair of huge, black eyes.

"Um… I wouldn't be worried if I were you. I think you're a little too young for Jesse, anyway," Mina said, grinning inwardly.

"I'm 14," said the third girl, a red-head and the oldest of the bunch, "and Jesse's only 17. That's a three year difference."

"Well, aren't you a confident one?" Mina said with a fake smile. The red head scowled.

"Well, you know, you don't deserve Jesse!" she said before turning around and storming off. The other two girls followed her.

"Um… are those your friends?" Mina asked Carly. Carly laughed.

"As if! But… the shy looking one with the dark hair and eyes… she's my little sister. They're all 3rd years, and they're all hopefully in love with the quidditch captain. But don't let them get to you," Carly said.

"I didn't," Mina said. She looked around at the room now that it was finished, and saw that the trio had put up a huge sign that was above the door, reading: Congratulations, Jesse! She sighed, and found a seat to sit down on by the fireplace. Dinner was just about over, and the room would be crowded with partying Slytherins any minute.

* * *

**So I updated! And it was a long update! Which means that if nobody review, I'll be devastated! Lol. But seriously, even though this chapter had only one Remus scene, and even if that scene sucked, next chapter will be good! Okay? So review, review, review! **


	17. The Party and the Next Morning

**Sorry I took a while to update. Here it is:**

**Chapter 17**

Mina grabbed a cup and poured some firewhiskey into it. She stared at the dark liquid for a while, before shrugging and downing it. It tasted a little bitter, but it made her feel good. She poured another glass and sipped it, before sitting down again.

People began to gather in the common room, and soon enough, Mina heard a familiar voice, one that she'd already begun to grow accustomed to.

"Getting wasted, Hobbit?" said Sprint.

"No. And what, is that your new nickname for me?" Mina asked, putting her cup down and locking eyes with the dirty blond. Sprint thought for a moment.

"Yes, it is, Hobbit."

"I see. So what is your fascination with muggle books, then?" she asked.

"Haha! I don't have a fascination with them at all. Well, when I was little, my grandmother read _The Hobbit_ to me. She's a muggle, you see. I thought it was a pretty good book, actually," he said.

"Ah! So you're not a pureblood?" Mina asked.

"I am, but my mother's not. She's actually a muggle-born. You have a muggleborn friend, don't you? That Gryffindor girl…"

"Yes, Lily," Mina said.

"And you're friends with a Ravenclaw girl too. How did that friendship start?"

"We met on the Hogwarts express before our first year, and we became instant friends. After we were sorted into three different houses, we promised each other to remain friends, and we have ever since," Mina explained.

"I wish my friends were as loyal," he smirked.

"What the _hell_ is that supposed to mean, Jesse?" A dark-haired boy clapped Sprint on the back.

"Not you, Erik," Sprint said, "You're the only one who stayed true to me! I love you, man!"

"Aw, I love you too, mate!" The two friends hugged each other, the pulled apart, laughing.

"Okay, you two are starting to weird me out now," Mina said.

"Haha! Mina, this is my best mate, E-"

"Erik Zabini, yes. I know," Mina stated.

"Ah, so you've met?" Sprint asked.

"He was friends with my ex-boyfriend, Lucius Malfoy." Sprint scowled at this.

"You went out with Malfoy? Nobody told me that. I hate that rotten son of a bitch!" he said.

"You do?" Mina seemed almost amused by this.

"Yeah, his family and my family don't get along, but Malfoy and I became friends anyway since he was on the quidditch team. We ended up getting into a fight two years ago. He's an idiot," Sprint explained, "but I never would have guessed that he'd gone out with you."

"Yeah, well, I was 14 years old at the time. He was 17. I found out he was only dating me because he was interested in my cousin Narcissa. So I agree that he's an idiot." Mina said. Zabini smirked.

"So you dated him, but now you think he's an idiot? And wouldn't it be funny if you started going out with his rival here," he said. Mina looked at him, then at Sprint.

"Very funny indeed," she said, smirking, "but I don't think it'd work." Sprint frowned.

"Why not?"

"You're not my type," she said. Sprint's jaw dropped open for a few seconds, but he closed it.

"Well, you're not exactly my type either. I prefer not to date hobbits." Mina laughed at this.

"That's okay. You know what though? I think you and Erik would make a better couple!" she said, still laughing. Sprint glanced at Zabini, then back at her.

"You're mad," he said.

"No, that would be Lucius who's mad," she said.

"Ah, how right you are. Dumb bastard. You know, the reason we fought was because of the war. He's determined to join You-Know-Who because his family has," Sprint said. Mina said nothing about this. She couldn't tell them that Malfoy already was a death eater.

"Malfoy's a fool," Sprint went on.

"You're a fool." Mina jumped at the sound of Snape's voice behind her.

"Severus!" she exclaimed.

"Hello, love," he grinned at her. Sprint cleared his throat.

"And why am I the fool?" he asked in a low, steady voice.

"Lucius is wise to take a side. There is a war going on. We are living in the dark days, and he has done the one thing he could do. You, however, just stand around and act like nothing's happening," Snape said.

"I prefer it that way. I'd rather be neutral throughout this," he said.

"Me too!" Mina declared. "I want to be neutral… I won't join sides, not with Dumbledore, or anyone. And certainly not with Vol-"

"Hold your tongue!" Snape hissed.

"Oh, drop it already, Sev! I can do or say what I want," she said confidently.

"You see, this is what's going to get you killed. And Mina, you can't argue with me that you're the biggest fool of all," he said. Mina laughed.

"I guess not. Maybe I am a fool. But I don't want to be dragged into this war," she said.

"I know you don't. I'm trying to help you so with that, remember?"

"Um… Sorry to interrupt your little conversation here, but could you take it somewhere else? This is a party," Zabini said.

"Fuck off, Zabini," Snape said. Mina giggled softly, before picking up her drink and downing its contents.

"You know what?" she said, "this is a party. So let's have fun, Sevvy!"

"No, thank you," he said while glaring daggers at Zabini. Zabini laughed.

"Seriously, that's the whole point of a party," he said.

"Oh, I know! Severus just wants to wait on us. Severus, bring me another glass of firewhiskey," Mina said. Snape glared at Mina.

"You know what? I have a Potions assignment to work on. I'll be in my dorm," he said, before retreating to the boys' dormitories.

"Is he always like that?" Sprint asked.

"Yes! He's such a party pooper. But anyway… hey, this fiewhiskey is really great. Seriously, I'm hooked on this stuff," she said.

"Just don't drink too much while you're around us," Zabini joked.

"Ha! As if I'd let you two get me drunk! That's funny," Mina said.

"Isn't it?" Sprint said, grinning mischievously.

"Oh, let me fill that up for you," Zabini said, tapping Mina's cup with his wand. The dark liquid filled her cup and Mina stared at Zabini.

"You are trying to get me drunk, aren't you?" she said.

"Nah. We just want to see what'll happen after 6 of those," Sprint said.

"You don't think I can take it?" Mina asked, shocked.

"Nope," Sprint said, still grinning. With that, Mina downed the drink and filled it again. She continued this 3 more times before the room began to spin.

"I need to sit down," she said.

"You are sitting," Zabini pointed out.

"Oh. Well, I need to lay down." She laid herself down and felt her head land gently on a rather hard pillow. She looked up; her vision only a little blurry. Sprint was grinning down at her, and her head was in his lap.

"Oh, well this is just great!" she said.

"Indeed it is," Sprint said. "Don't move. Stay just like that, okay?" Mina nodded.

"What are you going to do with me, Sprister Mint?" she said, meaning to say Mister Sprint, but giggling to much to notice.

"This." He leaned down and kissed her, and she kissed him back eagerly.

"Are you going to let me have a go?" Zabini smirked from where he was sitting across from them. Sprint pulled away from Mina but did not look away from her.

"Get your own bird," he said, grinning at Mina and plunging his mouth down onto hers once again. He slid his hand up her shirt and began to feel her up…

"Hey, Jesse," Mina said in between kisses. Sprint groaned but stopped and looked at her.

"Yes, Hobbit?"

"Why are we doing this?" He sighed.

"Because you wanted to."

"I did?"

"Yes."

Mina sat up at that moment and began laughing so hard, she was crying at the same time.

"Um… Hobbit? Shit, she totally wasted!" Sprint said. Mina's laughs slowed down to a stop.

"No, I'm not… That's what's so funny about it. You thought I was! And then you tried to take advantage of me," she said.

"I did not!" Sprint defended himself. But he began to laugh, too. "Well, maybe I did. But I wasn't going to go _all the way_…"

"I know. You didn't want to give those 3rd years a heart attack," Mina said, pointing across the room to where the three girls from before were standing, looking shocked, but glaring angrily at Mina.

"Oh, them? Yeah, they're like, obsessed with me or something. It freaks me out," Sprint said.

"Really? Why don't you just tell them?" Mina asked.

"Because then I'd have no fans," he said, laughing. Mina laughed too.

"In that case, why don't you just get them drunk instead of me? I'm sure they're more…easy." she said, giggling.

"Because I'm 17. That makes me legal," he said.

"Oh, I see. It's good to know you abide by the law then. It's better to know you don't go around taking advantage of young girls," Mina said.

"This is true," he replied. "I have more morals than that, anyway."

"Hey. Where's Erik?" Mina looked around, and burst out laughing when she saw him making out with the leader of the three annoying girls.

"What?" Sprint said, not noticing right away.

"What were we just talking about?" Mina asked while pointing in Zabini's direction. Sprint noticed them and started cracking up as well. The two of them remained laughing like that for a while, then they slowed down, and Mina turned towards him.

"You know, Jesse? This is some hell of a party," she said.

"Isn't it? See, you just gotta know how to have a good time," he said. She nodded.

"Well, I do know how to have a good time, but I've just never had a good time with my fellow Slytherins before. And what can I say? We rule," She said. Sprint grinned.

"I'm glad you're seeing it my way."

-

The next day Mina got up late. She had stayed up last night, just talking to Sprint. They were the last two to leave the common room. Mina pondered over this for a while. She knew that their friendship was odd, but it was good to know it would never be anything more than just a friendship.

As she went down to breakfast, she noticed the room was filled. She was indeed late. She saw Sprint at the Slytherin table look up and wave to her, and she smiled back. She went towards the Gryffindor table again, to sit next to Lily. But the only available seat was next to Remus. Lily saw Mina's problem and stood up.

"Mina," she said, "sit next to him!"

"No," Mina said.

"Why not?"

"I don't think he wants me to be around him," Mina said.

"How do you know?" Lily asked.

"He said so." Lily just shook her head,

"There has to be a reason," she said.

"And when you find out, Lily Evans, kindly inform me," Mina replied smartly.

"Oh, fine, be that way. But where are you going to sit?"

"I'm not hungry."

"Of course you are! Why'd you come down here?" Lily said.

"Lily, just forget it. I'm going to go take a walk and think things over. Care to join me?" Lily looked back at the table, and then back at Mina. She nodded and the two walked out into the hallway.

"So… wasn't there a party last night?" Lily asked.

"Yup."

"How'd it go?"

"Pretty good. I tricked Jesse into thinking I was drunk. It was pretty funny," she explained.

"You and Jesse seem to be getting along really well," Lily said. Mina shrugged.

"We're just friends. We have a lot in common. Well, a lot more than I realized," she said.

"And what about Remus?" Lily asked.

"Remus? What about him? There's nothing that I have in common with Remus," she replied.

"That's not true. You haven't gotten the opportunity to get to know each other that well yet. You could have loads in common with him and not even know it," said Lily. Mina sighed.

"I suppose so."

"Hey! There's another Hogsmeade weekend coming up! And I don't think we have to worry about death eaters this time," Lily said, laughing nervously.

"Oh yeah. December 1st, I believe. We have to do our Christmas shopping!" Mina said, excitedly. Christmas at Hogwarts was something Mina always looked forward to. Her favorite season was winter, and with it came her favorite holiday.

"We'll have to drag Phoebe with us, of course," Lily said.

"If you can manage to pry her off of Sirius," Mina joked.

The two girls had a good laugh about that, and continued walking. It was Sunday morning, and it was quiet around the castle, as usual. Those who got up early enough for breakfast, got the 'Sunday morning special,' consisting of chocolate chip pancakes instead of regular pancakes. Sunday mornings were what Phoebe Chang lived for.

Phoebe had been real busy with Sirius lately, though. Which, of course, didn't make Mina very happy. She knew that any day he would dump Phoebe like a bag of venomous snakes. But she was at least happy that one of her friends had a love life, if it wasn't her.

Lily was too preoccupied with her studies for a love life, or at least that's what she'd been telling Mina and Phoebe. But they knew she had a huge crush on Frank Longbottom, and usually used that knowledge to their advantage when the subject of love was brought up with Lily. And it was being brought up now by Mina.

"Lily, I think you should stop worrying about my love life and start worrying about your own," Mina said. Lily muttered something about school and studying.

"Frank Longbottom!" Mina reminded her. Lily giggled.

"Okay, okay. But I went to the dance with him, remember? I thought that was good enough," she said, pouting.

"Nope. Not good enough," Mina smirked.

Lily frowned.

"Okay, I'm not asking you to ask him out, or anything. Not like he'd say no, but… You could go out with Potter!" she said. Lily burst out laughing.

"Don't make me gag," Lily said.

"Damn, that's what I was trying to do, too. But really, I don't know why I said it, but for some reason… Potter suits you. He's certainly not as much of an ass as Sirius is. And he obviously fancies you," Mina said.

"Are you kidding me? Have you seen him with other girls?" Lily asked.

"Well, I try to avoid paying attention to that, but I'm sure it can't be as bad as Sirius. He just uses girls and then loses girls," Mina replied.

"Okay, why are we talking about the Marauders, anyway? I'd sooner go out with Snape then I'd go out with James Potter!" Lily said.

"Are you sure about that?" Mina said, laughing.

"END OF CONVERSATION!" Lily shouted. Mina shut her mouth. She did not want to get Lily Evans mad, and had forgotten already what she'd done to make her yell at her.

* * *

**Yes, it is short. How observant of you. Lol. But I had a bit of writer's block, and… ugh. You know how it is, don't you? Please review, and I promise to you that chapter 18 will be longer. It involves the Hogsmeade trip and such, and a long, important conversation between Remus and Mina. There! I just made a sacrifice by telling you what would happen! So review!**


	18. Remus

**School started again! I was prevented from updating! It's a hassle, so cut me some slack, if you will. I'm trying my hardest to write as often as possible.**

**As of now, this fanfiction is my worst one. I'm always having trouble with writing it. I mean, I know what I want to write, but I can't get it to sound right. I hope this chapter does not leave anyone disappointed.

* * *

**

**Chapter 18**

_Hogsmeade. Friday, December 1st, 1973. _

-

Remus ran his hands through his shaggy brown hair. James and Sirius were chugging butterbeers and Peter was the judge to see who finished first.

At about the same time, James and Sirius slammed their bottles down on the table, indicating that they were finished.

"Close call," said Peter.

"It was definitely me!" James boasted.

"No way, Prongs! You spilled half the bottle down the front of your shirt!" Sirius aruged. James looked down at his shirt to see a large wet stain.

"Oh." He took out his wand and dried his shirt.

Remus slid his head down into his arms.

"Oy, Moony, what's wrong?" Peter asked, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Oh, he's been like that since the night he got loose in the Forbidden Forest," James explained. Remus glared at him.

"You have been acting moody, Moony," Sirius said.

"I'm fine," Remus said calmly.

"Sure you are," James said with a smug look.

"Yeah. I'm going to go back to the castle, if you guys don't mind." Remus got up and walked out of the Three Broomsticks.

-

Inside a small shop in Hogsmeade, Mina browsed through various Christmas cards. She had just been shopping with her two best friends, (they'd actually managed to get Phoebe away from Sirius) and they'd gone their separate ways to pick out presents for each other. One of the cards caught her eye and she picked it up.

"See anything you like, Hobbit?" Sprint crept up behind her and snuck an arm around her waist.

"Not really," she said, looking at him. He removed his arm.

"Huh. So… Christmas shopping, I presume?" he asked. She nodded.

"Yup. You too?"

"Yeah. What do you want me to get you?" he asked.

"Wait a minute, Santa Claus. You're telling me that you're actually thinking about somebody besides yourself for once? Wow," Mina laughed.

"Hey! I can be generous when I want to be. But, seriously, what do you want for Christmas?" he asked.

"Hm… I'm not sure. Surprise me, okay?" she replied.

"I think I will. Until then, _au revoir_," he said, winking at her and walking away.

Mina took the card she'd been looking at and purchased it at the counter. Then she headed outside.

She stopped in front of a broom shop. The broom repair kit in the window caught her attention. _Perfect for Jesse,_ she thought. She went inside the store and bought one. Then she headed back to the castle by herself.

Mina stopped short in her tracks when she noticed a familiar figure standing by the lake, all by himself…

"Rem…us…?" She said slowly and softly, not wanting to disturb his concentration. He turned his head and looked at her. She had a worried expression about her face. He sighed.

"What are you doing here, Ang- I mean, Mina."

"Talking to a friend," she said. She walked over towards him and stood next to him, staring out at the lake, and taking in its beauty. Remus stared at her, not sure what to say.

"I… well, um… that is, why?" he managed to say.

"I don't know," was the short response.

"Look, y-you don't have to… I mean, I don't need you to worry or to try and console me. I'm just fine without you," he said harshly.

"Are you? Oh. Okay," she said, turning away.

"No, wait. I didn't mean to sound so…. Please, Mina," he said.

"Please what?" she asked.

"Please… don't go."

"…" Mina stepped closer towards him and stood there, staring at him. He looked away.

"Nice day, huh?" he said, keeping his eyes on the lake.

"Yeah… pretty nice," she replied, keeping her gaze on him.

"Yeah. So, um… well, I uh…"

"Oh, cut the crap, Remus! Why can't we just have a normal, un-awkward conversation between two human beings, not two stuttering fools?" Mina exclaimed.

"…You're right."

"Aren't I?"

"Mina…" He turned and looked straight into her eyes this time.

"Yes?"

"I think I'm in love with you." That caught Mina way off guard.

"I-I'm sorry, w-what did you say?" she stuttered.

"I said I think I'm in love. I've never been in love, so I wouldn't know how it feels, or anything, but… I know that I care about you a lot more than I thought I did. You know the saying 'If you love something, let it go…' So I did let you go. But I don't think it worked. Because all I know is that you took it personally, and here I am, pouring my heart out to you."

"Remus… I don't know what to say…" Mina said. She juist stared at him, blankly, waiting for everything to make sense again.

"Mina, I do care about you. But I can't be with you," he said.

"Why not?" she asked calmly.

"I don't want you to get hurt," he replied.

"I'm already hurt, Remus!" she said. Remus looked down at the ground and shook his head.

"I'm sorry!" He looked deeply upset.

"Remus…"

"Look, something happened to you already… because of me," Remus replied.

"What?"

"James told me what happened that night on the full moon," he said.

"Oh. My. God. You were the werewolf! I knew it! Remus…Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean…just… Remus, why didn't you tell me?"

Remus hung his head deeper, ashamed of himself. Mina wrapped her arms around him, afraid that if she said anything else, she'd make a fool of herself even more.

Remus cried… he actually cried. No one had ever cried on Mina's shoulder before. It was the first time she felt wanted, needed.

"Remus… thank you…" she whisepered softly.

"_Angel_," he sighed.

They embraced for a long while before they broke apart and just stared at each other, wondering if that had actually just happened, or it was just a dream.

"I… do love you," Remus broke the silence.

"It's okay. You don't have to love me, Remus." Mina said.

"Liar. Of course I do," Remus said, hugging her.

"Then… in that case, I love you too," Mina said with a laugh. He kissed her lightly, but intimately. Mina pulled away.

"We're… together again, right? I mean… we're not just going to keep it a secret. We're not going to lie about anything, right? Because… I'm tired of lying," Mina said. Remus smiled.

"Okay. No lies. Let's just… not move too fast, alright?" he said.

"Right." She hugged him again, afraid that if she let go, she would never have another chance to be this close to him. It was almost as if what she was doing right now was illegal.

_What would your mother say, Mina?_

A voice that she always hated to hear entered into her mind once again. It was the voice of reason; the voice of doubt. She hated it, and yet, it was always right.

_You're disgracing your family._

**_Shut up, _**Mina told the voice. And it did.

"So, where do you want to go from here?" Remus asked her. She looked at him and smiled.

"We'll take it slow, like we said. And let's just be ourselves. Because, I don't know about you, but that's what I do best." He grinned and kissed her cheek.

"Why are you so beautiful?" he asked.

"Because I have you," she replied. He laughed. "Are you laughing at me?"

"No… Being with you makes me so happy that I just have to laugh," he said. She studied him, trying to see if he was serious, before laughing a little herself.

"Now you're laughing at me," he said.

"No… Okay, yes I am. Sorry," she said.

"That's okay. Hey, do you want to some with me to Hogsmeade tomorrow?" he asked.

"Sure. You don't have any plans with your friends?"

"We Marauders never make plans. We just do whatever sounds good at the moment," he said with a proud grin.

"Spontaneous. I like that," Mina said.

"Heh. Well, I'll see you tomorrow. I'm going to head inside for now." He kissed her forehead and went inside the castle. Mina just sat there, as content as could be. She had nothing to worry about now…

"Mina!" Lily and Phoebe ran towards the lake and greeted their friend. They had just come from Hogsmeade and had bags in their hands. Both of them dropped their bags by the edge of the lake and rushed over to Mina.

Mina hugged her friends, happy to see them and overjoyed from everything that had happened that day. Phoebe was a little oblivious, but Lily knew something was different.

"What happened to you?" she asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Mina said with a wide grin. Lily playfully pushed her friend, who almost fell off of the rock she was sitting on and let out a tiny shriek.

"Tell us!" Phoebe chimed in.

"Oh, it's nothing really… Remus and I just got back together," she said.

"Nothing! But that's great!" Phoebe said.

"Oh my god! Really?" Lily exclaimed. She hugged Mina and said, "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thank you, both of you. You guys rock. I could not have better friends in this world than you," Mina said."And I'm so in love that I think I'm going to burst! It's weird, but it's like this huge overflowing of happiness just came over me!"

"Seriously, I think Remus has a good influence on you. You're never this giddy. You're acting like me on sugar-overdose," Phoebe said. Mina laughed in spite of herself. Then she took a few deep breaths. Lily shook her head.

"Let's go inside. We can hang out in… well, forget the whole common room thing, because that's just never going to work. We can hang out in…"

"The Room of Requirement!" Phoebe finished the sentence.

"Where?" Mina and Lily both asked.

"The Room of Requirement. You've never been there? It's not hard to find, you just have to be in the hallway, think of a place you need to be, and pop! The door appears, and inside is everything you need," Phoebe explained.

"Everything you need? Sounds like fun," Mina said.

"Let's go," Lily said. They made their way towards the castle and went inside, letting Phoebe lead the way towards the hallway that contained the Room of Requirement.

When they got to the hallway, Phoebe told the girls to close their eyes and think of a place they could go to hang out. A sort of common room, for any house. When the three opened their eyes, there was a door where there hadn't been before. Phoebe took a deep breath and grabbed the knob, pulling it open.

* * *

**I'm evil, aren't I? I take all that time to update, and then end the chapter here. Okay, so it's not a huge cliffie, but it does sort of leave you wanting to know what's inside the room. You can just imagine for now. Haha. Don't forget to review, folks.**


	19. The Dreaded Author's Note

**A/N:**

**takes a deep breath Okay- here's the deal: I am very unhappy with this story and will probably not be continuing it. Try not to be too upset (like that'll ever happen). I may or may not rewrite it, so keep checking in on my profile to see if I do. You have all been great. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I love you guys. For those of you who took the time to read my poor excuse for a fanfiction, thank you, even if you didn't review. I still love every one of you.**

**Good bye.**

**FullMoon-Insanity.**


End file.
